


An Unexpected Future

by aseies



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: (for BNHA), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Child Soldiers, Crossover, Gen, Hard of Hearing Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Manipulative Nedzu (My Hero Academia), Parental Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Parental Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Past Child Abuse, Queerplatonic Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, The Commission (TUA) does not exist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:06:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 33,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25800304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aseies/pseuds/aseies
Summary: “I’m sure you’re looking forward to finding a way back to your own time as soon as possible,” Nedzu said. “I want you to know that U.A. will do everything in its power to help you achieve that goal. Time travel is a complicated equation to solve, but I’m sure if we put our heads together we’ll come up with something!”Five raised a skeptical eyebrow. “And you’re just going to do that out of the goodness of your heart? I’m not even old enough for high school yet.”“Well, we’re all heroes for a reason, no? What good are we if we can’t help a single child in need?” Nedzu pointed out with a pleasantly neutral smile as he sipped his tea.-OR: Instead of time traveling into the apocalypse, thirteen-year-old Five Hargreeves teleports in the middle of the USJ fight.He gets a couple of new dads out of it.
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Number Five | The Boy & Hizashi Yamada | Present Mic, Number Five | The Boy & Shouta Aizawa | Eraserhead
Comments: 612
Kudos: 1761
Collections: Behold the Sacred Texts, Clever Crossovers & Fantastic Fusions





	1. Need a Hand?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aloneintherain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aloneintherain/gifts).



> This fic was inspired by a lovely anon on aloneintherain's tumblr, and special thanks to FeckedSpectrum for being a lovely sounding board!
> 
> NOTE: This fic has dialogue in both English and Japanese. [Brackets] indicate that the line is being spoken in Japanese. 
> 
> Also this first chapter covers the events of the USJ attack, and includes similar amounts of violence to that arc. Starting next chapter we'll be deviating from BNHA canon a lot more heavily!

“I’m ‘not ready’ to time travel, my _ass_ ,” Five Hargreeves scoffed as he stormed out of his father’s manor. He hurried down the 2002 street, a tweedy thirteen year old American in an English-schoolboy-styled uniform, ignoring the passers by as he reached forward and grabbed onto the unseen fabric of reality in front of him and _ripped_ through time itself. Autumn chill was replaced by a crisp spring wind and he grinned as it blew his brown hair out of its coif. He ripped another tear into winter, snow clinging to his blazer and his knee-high socks. Then, high on his accomplishments, he broke into a run, _far_ into the future, through both time _and_ space--

And stepped into chaos.

There was a fight, a single scruffy man and what looked like an army of humanoid monsters. A few of the monsters startled at Five’s sudden appearance, and one of them actually took a swing at him, but he teleported away to cover. The best he could see with his quick glance around was a nearby fountain, and he reappeared behind it in a crouch. He had goosebumps over his entire body, enough that he wanted to _scratch_ at them, but he forced himself to ignore it and push through his building headache to peer over the edge and take stock of the situation.

He was in some sort of domed building, the area inside divided into different zones filled with water or earth or buildings, and several looked to be recreating some sort of natural disaster. The fountain Five was hiding behind was on top of a grassy mound in the plaza center of the building, with the only visible exit Five could see being a long, grand staircase to an upper level with a large set of doors. There seemed to be people in every area, including on top of the stairs, but the fight Five had teleported into was in the plaza leaning towards the water zone.

Those creatures fighting--were they aliens? Monsters? Results of an experiment? Or were they people like his brother Ben, who’s monstrous side was inseparable regardless of how he felt about it. No-- more than anything, they looked like--

(Supervillains?)

There were two just on the opposite side of the fountain with their backs to him. One was spindly, with dismembered hands covering both his arms and his neck, watching the fight below from their elevated position and muttering something under his breath. He was far too calm to be anyone other than some sort of leader. To his side was an enormous man standing unnaturally still, inky black skin covered in red scars. Obviously a well-trained bodyguard with… an exposed brain?

...Whatever was going on, it wasn’t any of Five’s business.

He ducked back behind the fountain, carefully and quietly sliding down the grassy mound this fountain was built on. With a little more distance and cover, he twisted his fists, hooking his hands into the time-space continuum and pulling like he was opening a door--but it sputtered out.

“ _No no no,_ ” Five hissed under his breath, trying over and over to grasp the threads of time without alerting the others around him, but they kept slipping through his fingers until he couldn’t feel them at all.

So he was stuck here; wherever _‘here’_ was. Great. Perfect. At least he could still space-travel, right?

(He could see his hands trembling, feel the empty pit in his gut that threatened to claw him from the inside out that came when he pushed his powers too far, but thanks to his father he was no stranger to running on empty.)

If Five couldn’t get back home, he’d have to survive whatever this was, and he had no plans of becoming collateral damage today. Five crept around the grassy mound to see the fight in the plaza, watching the scruffy-faced man in the yellow goggles (and a jumpsuit that Five’s brother Diego would approve of) fly around and fight with some sort of scarf-like weapon. He was holding his own better than Five would have guessed at first blush, but Five knew better than most to not judge a book by its cover.

After the last of the goons was knocked unconscious, the Handy Man charged forward himself. Interestingly, his bodyguard (--was that a _beak_?!--) continued to stay back as his boss ran in, keeping unnaturally still. Scruffy was clearly suffering from tunnel vision after fighting off such insurmountable odds on his own. He called the Handy Man the ‘final boss’, despite the clearly strong backup nearby, and it seemed like he hadn't yet noticed the three other teenagers peering out of the water at the fight.

(Were they bystanders? Villains? Heroes? They looked like they were wearing a variety of costumes, at any rate, but the situation was hard to read without any context. Obviously most of these people had some sort of power. Were the 43 kids born on the same day in 1989 just the beginning?)

Scruffy got in a good hit against the Handy Man, but the Handy Man caught Scruffy’s elbow as they exchanged words and blows. Scruffy’s long black hair fell down, and then his elbow started _dissolving_. His sleeve and his skin flaked off into dust, leaving muscle exposed, and suddenly Five was glad he walked out on breakfast that morning.

Somehow Scruffy managed to get some distance, only for Beaky to appear behind him. Beaky didn’t teleport--Five would know--but he was _inhumanly_ fast, and Five wondered if that was his power.

It was both hard to look away and hard to watch as Beaky broke Scruffy’s arms and then crushed his face into the concrete. Blood pooled on the ground, and while it was nothing that Five hadn’t seen before, he still had to fight a wave of nausea at the man’s unnaturally-contorted body.

(People died all the time, he knew, but Scruffy had amazing fighting technique and had been easily fending off at least thirty of those goons when Five had teleported in. The odds had been against him, but Five had found himself secretly rooting for him anyway because _damn it_ if he didn’t remind him of Diego--)

Five knew whose side he was on now.

The air shifted around them, and the hair on Five’s neck stood on end as a man of black mist swirled into existence next to the Handy Man. A teleporter.

“Shigaraki Tomura,” the Teleporter said in a deep voice.

“Kurogiri,” the Handy Man acknowledged. “[Did you kill Thirteen?]”

Five was suddenly very glad his father forced him and his siblings to become fluent in so many different languages, and that Japanese was one of them.

“[I put Thirteen out of action, but there were students that I was unable to disperse, and one of them was able to run away,]” Kurogiri relayed.

Handy Man--Shigaraki?--looked like he was having a fit. He started to scratch at his neck, getting more and more intense, threatening his own subordinate with, “[If you weren’t a warp gate, I would have crushed you to pieces!]”

And then, suddenly, he stopped, his hands moving away from his neck. “[We can’t win against dozens of pros. It’s game over. Man, it’s game over this time. Let’s go home.]”

Five shifted into a ready stance. He didn’t trust this situation. Not at all. A good tactician knew when to retreat, but he didn’t think that this _Shigaraki_ was that at all.

Movement in the water drew Five’s eye to the kids and _damn it_ didn’t they know what kind of situation they were in?! Don’t go playing around in the water at a time like this! 

Unfortunately, it looked like the noise attracted Shigaraki’s notice too. “[Oh, yeah. Before we leave, let’s smash some of his pride as the Symbol of Peace!]”

Five ran, even before Shigaraki lunged for the kids, and Five jumped into a kick, teleporting right next to Shigaraki’s head and making sure that Five’s loafer connected with Shigaraki’s ear. He immediately jumped off again, narrowly avoiding Shigaraki swiping at his ankle, but Five still managed to grab the hand right off of Shigaraki’s face.

He didn’t quite stick the landing, but he didn’t twist an ankle, so he counted it as a win.

He turned towards Shigaraki with a shit-eating grin that his brother Klaus would be proud of and held up his trophy for the villain to see. “[Hey, is this _real_?]”

(Draw attention away from civilians. Stall for backup if you’re alone against a stronger opponent.)

“[You--!]” Shigaraki quickly covered his face with his own hand to keep his face from being seen. A hatred deeper than Five had ever seen before overtook Shigaraki’s gaze as he lunged for Five, the other three kids forgotten. “[Give Father back!]”

“[ _Father_ , huh?]” Five teleported out of the way, managing to keep his balance through his light-headedness only because he’d been trained to push himself this far before. “[Didn’t anyone tell you that fathers _suck_?]”

Five threw the hand in the opposite direction from both him and the other kids, forcing Shigaraki to change course if he wanted to retrieve his precious hand--

Five let out an undignified squawk as he was lifted off of the ground by his extended arm, the beaked man having appeared next to him in an instant. The monster raised Five up high enough to meet the monster’s vacant eyes, and for the first time Five fully, utterly, feared for his life.

“[No!]” a boy cried distantly behind him, through what felt like cotton stuffed in Five’s ears.

Five’s heartbeat pounded in his temple and he remembered his sputtering powers, desperately trying to bend reality around him as he _screamed_. Pain overwhelmed his senses and it took all he had to keep himself conscious as he hung limply from his crushed arm.

“SMASH!”

A force stronger than anything Five ever felt before erupted next to him and it was lucky the monster let go of him or the force alone would have broken his arm in even more interesting ways. As it was, he was only flung a few feet before something wrapped around his waist and he was pulled into the water.

Five forced his eyes open to see the wide-eyed face of the girl from earlier, her tongue(? gross.) wrapped around his waist from when she presumably saved him from flying off. She said something around her tongue, but Five was far too gone to be able to understand a thing.

“You idiots should have run,” he groaned quietly in English.

She looked like she wanted to say something to that, but a large clash echoed from the top of the large staircase and a pair of doors flew inside. A man walked in, and Five watched as the froggish girl’s eyes filled with happy tears.

Guess that was the backup--

Five wasn’t in the water anymore.

He blinked, looking around at the other kids around him. The girl, the green haired boy, and the small purple one, with Scruffy at their feet. The big buff man was talking to the green-haired boy, but Five’s eyes were fixated on Scruffy.

He was _breathing_.

“We--We have to get out of here,” Five ordered to the others in English as the big muscled man ran to tangle with the beaked monster. “Let’s grab Scruffy and go.”

“That’s what All Might said too,” the girl replied--in _English_ , thank God-- “Are you okay to walk?”

“I’m _fine_ ,” Five hissed, cradling his arm and nodding them forward. “Can you carry him or not?”

“Midoriya,” the girl said, and the green haired kid started carrying Scruffy’s shoulders while the purple child grabbed his feet.

The group diligently made their way to the door, but Midoriya seemed more preoccupied with what was happening behind them than where they were going. Fair enough. They needed someone to watch their backs during their retreat, after all.

“Thank you for saving us back there,” the girl said, looking at him. “I’m Asui Tsuyu. You can call me Tsuyu. This is Midoriya and Mineta. What’s your name?”

Five spared a glance at her before saying tersely, “Five.”

“ _Kero?_ ” Tsuyu tilted her head. “Like the number?”

“ _Exactly_ like the number.”

The purple boy hissed something that Five didn’t catch, but apparently Tsuyu was willing to act as translator. “Mineta wants to know what you’re doing here, _kero_.”

“Long story short? An accident,” Five said, taking Midoriya’s lead and constantly scanning the area for threats. “I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I can. But in the meantime we have to get you guys to safety.”

“All of us.”

Five furrowed his brow and turned to her. “ _What_?”

“All of us,” Tsuyu repeated resolutely, meeting his eyes with as much stubborn determination as Allison. “We’re _all_ getting to safety, Five. That means you too.”

Five stared at her, his arm throbbing and a quip on the tip of his tongue that he didn’t have the energy to deliver. He gave her a grimace instead. “Sure. Let’s just get out of here, yeah?”

Another explosion erupted behind them, and Mineta cheered.

“Those villains said that they wanted to kill All Might,” Tsuyu said, probably for Five’s benefit. “Were we overthinking it?”

But then the dust cloud cleared, and the beaked monster’s claws were deep into All Might’s side. The kids looked absolutely shell-shocked at the sight, even after everything they’d witnessed Scruffy going through earlier.

“Hey, he’s buying us time; let’s _go_ ,” Five said, trying to snap them out of it.

Tsuyu and Midoriya flinched like he’d struck them.

“Asui,” Midoriya said gravely, speaking for the first time since All Might arrived. “Trade places with me carrying Mr. Aizawa.”

“Kero?” Tsuyu tilted her head but traded places all the same. “Okay, but why?”

“No!’” Five reached for Midoriya’s back, but missed, and swore as the boy took off in a sprint towards the fight.

“Midoriya!” Tsuyu called after him.

Five reached for his powers, but found them just as elusive as he had before.

It’d only been two hours since he woke up and he was already at his limit. Not only that, Midoriya was surprisingly fast. He wouldn’t catch up before Midoriya was in danger again.

Thankfully, it looked like All Might wasn’t their only backup, as more kids jumped into the fight to come to both All Might and Midoriya’s aid.

“Five!” Tusyu called back to him. “You’re at your limit, right? You won’t be able to help them like this. Let’s get out of here!”

Tsuyu was right, but Five didn’t like it. Once Aizawa had passed out, these kids became _Five’s_ responsibility, since the rest of them didn't have any combat training. He didn’t like this blatant insubordination.

But Tsuyu was right. If they stayed they’d risk getting taken hostage, and Aizawa needed immediate medical attention.

Five took a deep breath, and turned his back on the battlefield.


	2. Carrot and Stick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nedzu vs Five: FIGHT!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the lovely comments on the first chapter!! It's all very motivating. I'm ready to get back and write right now!
> 
> Hope you enjoy reading this section as much as I did writing it~

Five didn’t appreciate being handcuffed to his hospital bed. At this point he didn’t particularly think he even _needed_ to be in a hospital bed anymore. Sure, he had to go through surgery to fix his shattered arm, but the doctors healed him up with their powers. Now he was awake and handcuffed to his hospital bed and they didn’t even have the decency to have a book in the room. He tried to teleport out--several times, as a matter of fact--but prior to his hand-cuffing his powers were still refusing to cooperate, and afterwards he couldn’t even do _that_ much.

At least the hospital fed him, even if it couldn’t hold a candle to Mom’s cooking.

Finally, the door opened and someone other than a doctor walked in. He had a plain face--especially after everything Five had seen so far--and a large tan coat, with a matching hat tucked under his arm. He gave Five a vapid smile that he knew better than to trust.

“Thank you for your patience,” the man placated in English. “It’s been a busy day, as I’m sure you can imagine. I’m Detective Tsukauchi. How is your arm?”

Five lifted his right arm out of its sling, wrapped in a hardened cast, and wiggled his fingers at the detective. “Just peachy, thanks.”

“Excellent!” came a squeaky voice from somewhere other than the detective. Five looked around and jumped when the spare chair by the foot of his bed pushed itself closer to his side. A tray with a full tea pot and three empty disposable cups was placed on the edge of Five’s bed, and a giant, scarred rat in business wear and orange sneakers hopped onto the seat, smiling at Five in a way he trusted even less than the detective. “We’re glad that your recovery is progressing smoothly. We’ve heard about what you did, helping our students, and as the Principal of U.A. I, Nedzu, wanted to make sure I thanked you personally.”

As the hyper-intelligent animal bowed to him, Five couldn't help but be reminded of Pogo, the chimpanzee his father experimented on to give human intelligence. Both of them wore suits and adopted upper-crust English mannerisms. Pogo was a family friend and a far better care-giver than Five's father ever was, but that didn't mean that Five trusted this... _Nedzu_. There was a sharpness in Nedzu's demeanor that Pogo never had.

“Is _this_ any way to thank me?” Five asked, jerking his left arm against the handcuffs keeping him to the bed. The cuffs rattled and settled back around his wrist, above his tattoo of an umbrella.

“Apologies. It’s a necessary precaution, considering you kept trying to use your quirk illegally to escape custody before we could question you,” Detective Tsukauchi said, his expression only taking on the slightest hint of remorse. “If you cooperate with us, we’re more than happy to take those off of you.”

Five narrowed his eyes at both of them, quietly measuring his options. No matter how he sliced it, he wasn’t in a good position here.

“Is it legal for you to question a minor without a legal guardian or a lawyer present?” Five asked, chin raised high.

“An excellent question,” Principal Nedzu said, a gleam in his eye as he started to pour the tea into one of the three cups. “We’re legally obligated to contact your parents and inform them of the situation, but you declined to give the hospital any contact information, and you didn’t have a passport or any other form of ID in your personal effects. So if you’re looking to have a guardian present, you’ll need to, ah, ‘throw us a bone’, as it were.”

Five clenched his jaw. Even if he wanted his father here, this world was so drastically different from the one he’d known before, dear old Reginald must’ve long kicked the bucket.

“I want to be clear: You’re not in trouble,” Detective Tsukauchi added, moving to stand next to Nedzu as Five rolled his eyes. “We’re just trying to understand the situation. Those villains you fought were extremely dangerous, and any information you have on them would be greatly appreciated.”

“Well you’re fresh out of luck, because I don’t know anything about that Handy Man,” Five said, leaning back against his inclined bed and crossing his ankles. “Also you never said I didn’t need a lawyer.”

“The sooner you cooperate, the sooner we’ll be able to remove those restraints,” Nedzu reminded him cheerfully before offering Five a cup. “Tea? I'm quite proud of it.”

Five had a hard time arguing with speeding up his release. He wanted to figure out how to get home as soon as possible.

"Fine. I'll cooperate."

Detective Tsukauchi made his way to Five's side, and unlocked the handcuff shackling Five to the bed.

Rubbing his wrist, Five grudgingly took Nedzu's tea, but resolved not to drink.

“Let’s start at the top: What’s your name, age, and your quirk?” the detective asked, pulling out a notebook as he moved back to the foot of Five's hospital bed.

“My name is Five Hargreeves,” Five answered. “I’m thirteen years old. And what do you mean by ‘quirk’?”

The detective blinked at him, his eyes widening slightly and his eyebrows raising at the question.

Nedzu didn’t miss a beat though, cheerfully replying, “A person’s ‘quirk’ is the power that they’re born with that makes them unique. It’s called _kosei_ in Japanese.”

Five furrowed his brow. “Doesn’t that word mean ‘individuality’?”

“Ah, so you understand Japanese after all!” Nedzu replied, offering a cup of tea to Tsukauchi without breaking eye contact with Five. “Aren’t translations between different languages delightful?”

That wasn’t exactly the way that Five would put it.

“Ah, but back on topic, would you happen to be Five Hargreeves of the Umbrella Academy?” Nedzu asked, smiling as he picked up his own cup. “Born in 1989 among the first wave of quirk-users and adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves?”

Five stiffened. “...So you already knew?”

“I had my suspicions,” Nedzu confirmed, sipping his tea. “You were wearing the original design for the Umbrella Academy uniforms with your number on them, and the description of you, your tattoo, and your quirk from Young Asui matched up with Five Hargreeves perfectly. Put together with the fact that you didn’t know what quirks were and that there are several accounts of you disappearing from your original timeline for long periods of time, it wasn’t hard to figure out.”

The bewildered look on the detective’s face said otherwise, though.

“I see,” Five said, feeling validated that he knew not to trust Nedzu at face-value. “Well, you got me. I’m _that_ Five Hargreeves. My ‘quirk’ is being able to jump through space and time. I was testing out the limits of my… quirk… when I jumped forward as far as I did. I ended up right in the middle of that fight. I’ve never jumped through time before, and when I tried to go back home, I couldn’t. So, sorry, I can’t help you guys with your investigation.”

Recovering himself, the detective said, “We still need to take your statement. Please, continue your story.”

So Five told them what he saw from his hiding place, his observations about the villains, about watching the scruffy man--whom Nedzu explained was a hero named Eraserhead and a teacher at his school--fight with said villains and his subsequent demise. About how Five distracted Shigaraki and got a broken arm for it. About how Midoriya ran back into the fray.

In return, they explained the basics of quirk law, how Five wasn’t supposed to use his quirk in public, and how the handcuffs that were on him had quirk-cancelling properties. They told him the year, what happened in between his own time and now in the broadest strokes possible, and about how U.A. was Japan’s top school for upcoming heroes.

“I’m sure you’re looking forward to finding a way back to your own time as soon as possible,” Nedzu said. “I want you to know that U.A. will do everything in its power to help you achieve that goal. Time travel is a complicated equation to solve, but I’m sure if we put our heads together we’ll come up with something!”

Five raised a skeptical eyebrow. “And you’re just going to do that out of the goodness of your heart? I’m not even old enough for high school yet.”

“Well, we’re all heroes for a reason, no? What good are we if we can’t help a single child in need?” Nedzu pointed out with the pleasantly neutral smile he’d been wearing the whole conversation as he sipped his tea. “And on a more personal note, it’s been a long time since I’ve taken on something so mentally stimulating as a space-time jump! I’m looking forward to the opportunity!”

“Sure.” Five gave the principal another look-over, still unsure how much he should be trusting him.

“You needn’t worry, Mr. Hargreeves,” Nedzu assured him, like he could read Five’s mind. “U.A. has a vested interest in helping those that help our students. With an injury like that mixed with quirk exhaustion, I’m sure the hospital would like to keep you here overnight for observation and a follow-up healing in the morning, but rest assured we’ll have living accommodations prepared for you upon your release. You can stay with U.A. as long as you like while we figure out how to get you back home.”

Detective Tsukauchi’s eyes flitted over to Nedzu and widened slightly.

“And if I refuse those accommodations?” Five asked Nedzu argumentatively.

“Well, we certainly wouldn’t try to force you into accommodations against your will,” Nedzu said cheerfully. “But do consider that the alternatives are less than favorable. A minor in a foreign country out of time, without a family or proper documentation, needing somewhere to live long enough to get a handle on their quirk and get home? What would that look like, Detective?”

Detective Tsukauchi opened his mouth, but Five cut him off with a brusque smile. “That’s okay. I get the picture.”

The Detective didn’t seem satisfied with leaving it there because he continued anyway, “You don’t need to feel pressured into anything, though. We do have resources available to children without families who end up needing quirk support. You have options.”

“Though none of them have the vast resources that U.A. does,” Nedzu pointed out.

“Of course,” Five said, giving a sarcastically courteous nod to Nedzu. “What _does_ U.A. stand for, anyway?”

“The word ‘ _Yuuei’_ is the inverted kanji for ‘ _eiyuu_ ’, which means ‘hero’!” Nedzu said cheerfully, raising a paw. “Clever, isn’t it?”

Five raised an eyebrow and wondered aloud, “Is that you patting _yourself_ on the back?”

Five was satisfied by the agitated swish of the rat’s tail, even if his tone didn’t betray any of it. “You certainly _are_ an American! If you must know, U.A. was founded long before I inherited the school. I do my best to uphold its legacy and prepare our students for the long path that lies ahead of them.”

Five managed not to roll his eyes, but it was a close thing.

Detective Tsukuauchi cleared his throat. “Well then, I think it’s about time we wrapped things up if you don’t have any more questions.”

“Yes,” Nedzu agreed, gathering up his own and the detective's empty cups. “There are still matters I need to attend to in order to facilitate that your release is as smooth as possible.”

“Right…”

Five hesitated, a question on his tongue as he gripped his sheets. Should he really be showing his hand like this?

(Though, like everything else in this conversation, did he really have a choice?)

“That man who was fighting,” Five started slowly, “Eraserhead. How is he?”

Five felt scrutinized as Nedzu looked his way again, and Five hated the childish part of himself that wanted to look away and hide his interest. Instead he met Nedzu’s beady eyes and witnessed Nedzu’s eyes soften a little.

“He was released from surgery a few hours after you were,” Nedzu explained. “His injuries were quite extensive, but he’s expected to make a full recovery with proper treatment.”

“That’s good,” Five said quietly, nodding to himself.

“His room is understandably guarded at the moment, but I could put you on the approved visitors list if you like,” Nedzu offered.

“...I’d appreciate it.”

“Excellent,” Nedzu said with a pleased nod. “I’ll take care of that right away.”

"Thank you."

It was only after they left that Five let his curiosity get the better of him and he took a sip of the tea still in his hand.

His face immediately scrunched up in disgust, an offended noise escaping his throat.

_It was the most delicious tea he's ever had._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:  
>  _Chapter 3: A Nostalgic Spider-Man_


	3. A Nostalgic Spider-Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who needs a manikin when there's an unconscious man right there?

Eraserhead still had hair.

Five wasn’t sure why _that_ was his first thought when he managed to make it to the hero’s hospital room. There were other, more important details to be focusing on. Like the bandages and casts that seemed to cover the entire upper half of his body, or the tubes and drip bags that helped him breathe and rest. He hadn’t even consciously considered whether or not Eraserhead would have hair before entering the room, just that the presence of it, falling over the pillow around his head, framing the bandages on his face, seemed implausible and borderline silly.

(He actually found himself letting out a small giggle at the thought, and he quickly covered his mouth with his hand and turned away from the sight.)

Instead, Five made his way to the window of the room, leaning against the windowsill with his good arm and looking down at the hospital parking lot. In some ways it was just like a parking lot back home--it was filled with cars and people and people were lost in their own little worlds. But the people themselves were all sorts of shapes and sizes, and the billboard across the street _moved,_ featuring a clip of All Might smiling wide and flexing for the camera.

“So this is the future, huh?” Five said quietly, but aloud. He always worked best when he could voice his thoughts with someone, like his sister Vanya, and Eraserhead wasn’t about to wake up any time soon with those injuries. “Gotta admit; this wasn’t what I was expecting. The city doesn’t look all that much different from where I grew up. Where are the hover-boards? Klaus would call this a rip-off.”

As expected, there wasn’t a response.

“Or maybe he wouldn’t,” Five admitted, letting his head rest against the windowpane. “I saw your class, briefly. Before the ambulance came. They seemed like good kids. Klaus would be thrilled to meet other people like him--like us. Ben too. I wonder what he’d think of that boy with the webbed arms. Maybe he wouldn’t feel so alone, if he’d been born now instead of then.”

Five sighed.

“...I miss them already. Ben. Vanya. My siblings. Even the old man, a little bit… I feel like he would’ve been able to read that Nedzu guy better than I did. Or at least stood up to him better. I don’t get what Nedzu wants with me, but it’s certainly not altruism, like he wants to pretend it is. But he does seem like my best bet for getting out of here… him and U.A..”

Five pushed himself off the sill and made his way back to Eraserhead’s side. “So it looks like we’re stuck with each other, at least for a while.”

The machines filled the silence with beeps and whirs as they kept the man alive.

“You impressed me, you know,” Five said, actually looking at Eraserhead this time. “You were really outnumbered and, if your scarf is anything to go by, your quirk is somewhat similar to my brother Diego’s. I know how much work goes into moving as well as you did in that fight. That’s why, when I saw you go down--”

His voice cracked on the final word.

Five found himself oddly choked up as he remembered the blood pooling around Eraserhead’s twisted and shattered limbs. He wasn’t sure why--it wasn’t like he or his siblings were strangers to mutilated bodies. Save for Vanya, they’d all hurt people. Killed people.

But those were bad guys. Thieves and murderers who didn’t care if normal people got in their way. Eraserhead was a teacher doing his best to protect his students from a literal gang of villains. He didn’t deserve… all this.

(‘Deserve,’ _hah_. Five should already know better than to cling to such naive ideals. Fate didn’t care who was a good or bad person when it doled out its punishments.)

“Let’s just say I’m glad you made it,” Five finished, smiling grimly entirely for his own benefit.

Not wanting to talk anymore, Five pulled over the visitor chair and sat down. He could leave, he supposed, but he didn’t particularly want to go back to his empty hospital room either. So he slouched in the chair, but found that he couldn’t cross his arms around his cast, and apparently future hospitals had just as shitty eye-searing lighting as ever. So he shifted, first attempting to sit in the chair properly with his back straight like his dad liked and quickly discarded the idea in favor of turning to the side and resting his cast on the back of the fold-out chair. He then rested his forehead against the cast and while it wasn’t a _soft_ pillow, it at least kept the light out of his eyes as he rested.

* * *

Nedzu was lucky he caught Hizashi when he was returning to the hospital with an overnight bag for himself and Shouta instead of earlier when Hizashi was frantically trying to check on his critically injured partner. Rather than exploding his boss’s eardrums with a frustrated scream for holding him up, Hizashi was able to calmly listen to the principal explain about the little time traveler that saved Shouta’s students. He was lighter on details than Hizashi would have normally liked, but Nedzu stressed that it was “imperative that U.A. keep the boy safe until he’s able to return to his own time.”

Which was something Hizashi was all for. He was sure the kid wanted to get back home.

But he didn’t like Nedzu dropping hints about how the kid was already “fond” of Shouta, and how it would be best if someone on staff took him in. Shouta barely made it out of the USJ _alive_ \--they weren’t in a position to take in a _kid_ _!_ Kan had a spare room in his flat, and Ishiyama was great with kids. Especially with the sports festival coming up--assuming there even _was_ one--Hizashi didn’t have the _time_ to take care of both his partner and--

Hizashi froze as he opened the door to his partner’s room.

The time-traveling boy in question sat by Shouta’s side, spindly limbs and knobbly joints on full display in the boy’s pressed shorts and an absolutely tent-sized T-shirt from the lost and found. It probably needed to be that big, to fit over the cast currently encasing his right arm that the boy had been using as a pillow.

The boy jumped at the sound of the door opening though, and tried to quickly and subtly wipe his drool on his sleeve as he scrambled up to attention, sharp brown eyes zeroed in on Hizashi.

“Well hey there, Lil Listener!” Hizashi greeted with a forced cheer, glad he hadn’t changed out of his Present Mic costume yet. It was easier to smile this way. “Wasn’t expecting any other visitors, but I’m not complaining! I’m Present Mic; what’s your name?”

The boy eyed the hand Hizashi was waving with and the bag slung over Hizashi’s shoulder, before meeting Hizashi’s eyes through Hizashi’s sunglasses. “...Five. Though I imagine you already knew that, or you’d be busy throwing me out about now.”

“‘Five’?” Hizashi repeated, blinking. “Five _what_?”

“Guess I overestimated you.” And, wow, the kid already had the you’re-an-idiot-Hizashi stare down _pat_. “That’s my _name_. Five Hargreeves.”

“Five isn’t a name; it’s a number,” Hizashi insisted. “English _is_ your native language, right?”

“[And Japanese is _yours_ , isn’t it?]” the boy shot back in surprisingly grammatical--if a little awkward and outdated--Japanese. He flattened his wispy brown hair and straightened what he could of his shirt and drew himself up to his not-so-full height. “[Like I said, I am Hargreeves Number Five. You’re the hero with the shouting quirk who showed up with the rest of the U.A. backup. Are you close with Eraserhead?]”

“[You could say that,]” Hizashi answered evasively, having no trouble switching languages. He walked over and stood next to Shouta. “[He’s my best friend. I appreciate you keeping an eye out for him and his class.]”

“[I just happened to be in the area,]” Hargreeves said dismissively, standing far too straight for someone his age, even with his hands in his pockets. “[Any other hero would have done the same thing.]”

Hizashi raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. “[Aren’t you, like, twelve?]”

“[ _Thirteen_ ,]” the boy corrected and, oh gosh, he even _raised his chin_ trying to make himself look bigger than he was. “[And so what?]”

Hizashi had to fight to keep himself from cooing. Instead he held up his hands and said, “[My bad, Lil Listener. But aren’t you a little young to be calling yourself a hero?]”

“[What else would you call someone that goes out and fights crime when there’s trouble?]” Hargreeves asked without a hint of irony.

Suddenly the situation didn’t seem as cute.

“Oi, oi,” Hizashi started, aware of the cold sweat on the back of his neck, switching back to English just to make sure the kid understood what he was saying. “Are you saying you’re some sort of vigilante?”

“Ah, I guess there’s a difference between the two now,” Hargreeves mused. “Back in my own time you didn’t need the government’s permission to use your quirk, and there certainly wasn’t any sort of license you had to get to help people. We just did it. Like good Samaritans.”

“Weren’t there any heroes you could rely on instead?” Hizashi asked, knowing full well that even as he grasped for straws there are communities that get too easily overlooked by the heroics system.

“You really don’t get it, do you?” Hargreeves marveled, tilting his head as he re-appraised Hizashi. He huffed a laugh which turned into a bitter smile. “There _were_ no heroes. We were the _first_. The first with quirks, all born on the same day, and raised by a man who knew potential when he saw it. Who _cares_ if a bank robber has a gun when you can teleport out of the way or brainwash him to shoot his friend? Who _cares_ if you're a kid when you can literally rip someone in half or throw a knife between someone’s eyes from around the corner? We have this saying, _‘With great power comes great responsibility.’_ _We’re_ the ones who were born with this power, and we have a _duty_ to use it. And we must have done a good job, right? After all, _you’re_ here.”

Hizashi felt his blood boiling under his skin, and it was only his many years in front of the media that let him keep the protective rage off of his face.

Instead he smoothed out the crease in his brow and knelt in front of the boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve got a pretty heroic spirit, I’ll give you that. But that man should never have put that kind of pressure on you or your siblings. Before being heroes you should be _children_ , and then choose this life when you’re adults and ready for this kind of choice, if you decide to do it at all. I promise that as long as you’re here you won’t need to fight anymore.”

Hargreeves slapped away Hizashi’s hand. “ _Don’t make promises you can’t keep._ Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

Without waiting for a response, Hargreeves vanished before Hizashi’s eyes.

Hizashi stared at the empty spot where Hargreeves had been and slowly closed his outstretched hand, letting it fall to his side. Letting out a heavy sigh, he stood again only to collapse in the chair Hargreeves had vacated.

What a kid.

(A kid who needed just as much saving as those who escaped from villains.)

Hizashi removed his sunglasses to rub at his eyes, letting the frames fall to his lap, and turned to look at Shouta.

“[I don’t know about you, but _I_ like him.]”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _*squints at all the dadzawa comments from the last chapter*_ Y'all ordered dadmic, right???
> 
> Next time:  
>  _Chapter 4: Spiked Boots Are Best Bought Online_


	4. Spiked Boots Are Best Bought Online

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shopping montage?? Shopping montage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally finished watching season 2 of TUA! It was really fun, lol. (I was very relieved I didn't have to change anything about this fic.)
> 
> Thanks to everyone who've been leaving such great comments! It's really helped fuel my momentum for upcoming chapters!

“What about this one?” Present _‘Call Me Yamada When I’m Off The Clock’_ Mic held up another neon green shirt with a hideous pink design on the front.

Five’s eye twitched. Yamada had to be fucking with him. Five had a hard time deciphering Yamada’s manic smiles, but he was pretty sure the gleam in his eye matched Klaus’s when he’s scheming to set something on fire.

“No,” Five insisted, grabbing the shirt out of Yamada’s hand and putting it back on the rack.

“Hey, _you’re_ the one who said it didn’t matter what clothes you wore…” Yamada said, and yeah, he was _definitely_ fucking with Five.

How did Five end up here? Were there really no other teachers at the so-called ‘Top Hero School in the Country’? Bullshit. Five wanted a refund. He wanted to strangle that damn rat.

“If I pick out my own clothes can we _please_ get a move on?” Five asked.

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Yamada said in a sing-song voice.

Five rolled his eyes and grabbed some plain-colored polo shirts and some  khaki pants . ...And some comfortable-looking pajamas. (The hero couldn’t fault him for those, could he?) Grabbing enough to last a week, Five dumped them in their shopping cart. 

“Are we good now?” Five asked.

“You forgot socks and underwear,” Yamada reminded cheerfully.

Five’s face burned, mortified, before turning around and storming off to find the appropriate aisle.

He wished he’d broken his other arm too. And maybe the rest of his body, so he could still be in the hospital like Eraserhead. _Anything_ was better than shopping with Yamada. He was worse than _Allison_. (...Though, admittedly, not quite as bad as Klaus.) As it was, his arm was all healed and out of the cast and he was supposed to stay with Yamada and Eraserhead since they had a spare room and (supposedly) already understood Five’s situation.

“There,” Five said, tossing the appropriately-sized packs into the cart. “Are we good now?”

“Not yet, Little Listener!” Yamada said, holding up the shirts Five had tossed in earlier. “It’s time for a fashion show! No point buying clothes if we don’t know they’re gonna fit, right?”

Five stared at him incredulously.

(Nevermind. He was worse than Klaus.)

Closing his mouth, five snatched the polo shirts from Yamada and used all his willpower not to grumble as they made their way to the changing rooms.

The worst part was, Five knew he was playing right into Yamada’s hands, getting all riled up like this.  The man was just like Klaus, looking for any sort of reaction to feed off of . Probably thought it was funny to string Five along like a toddler.

Well. Two could play that game.

If Yamada refused to see him as an equal then maybe Five could use the fact that he saw Five as a child to his advantage.

His first act of childish pettiness was to refuse to show Yamada what he looked like in the new clothes. He confirmed that they  were the correct size and were able to mix and match fairly well before changing back into his uniform shorts and the oversized T-shirt from the hospital. Yamada pouted, and Five considered it a win.

“They fit,” Five said, depositing all but one pair of pants in the cart, which went back on the returns rack. “So what do we need to do now?”

“Well before that, are you planning to do any training while you’re here?” Yamada asked, propping his chin in his hand. “We’re gonna stop by the school in a bit to make sure you have the proper access, and that includes gyms and training facilities.”

Five didn’t even need to think about it. “Of course I am.”

“Then we need to get you proper shoes for it,” Yamada said matter-of-factly. “The school provides gym uniforms, but students bring their own shoes.”

“What’s wrong with my shoes?” Five asked honestly.

Yamada raised an eyebrow and looked down at Five’s brown loafers. “Do you… _fight_ in those?”

“Yes?”

“Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.” He pat Five on the shoulder sympathetically, a _literal tear in his eye_. “Don’t worry; we’ll get you proper footwear.”

Even though Five had already resigned himself to the fact that Yamada would do whatever he wanted, it didn’t prepare him for the buckled, knee-high, spiked-toed monstrosity that Yamada considered _proper footwear_. He wasn’t even _happy_ with them, muttering to himself how they could be _even spikier_ while Five scrounged up a pair of sensible black sneakers that Mic ended up going along with as, quote, “a hold-over while I order a better pair of boots online.”

Five was already annoyed at how much more comfortable the sneakers were compared to his trusty loafers, he didn’t need Yamada fussing over a pair of boots Five _wasn’t even going to wear_.

Yamada refused to take the hint, and spent the next several hours whisking Five away to various stores. It was definitely annoying, but halfway through the first store Five decided to test how much he really could get away with. Hair gel so Five could properly coif his hair? Placing peanut butter and marshmallows in the shopping cart without breaking eye contact with Yamada? Pointing out the weird limited-edition flavors of junk food and subsequently getting half a cart full of them? Yamada finally drew the line at Five getting a pocket knife --(“But the boots with the _sharp spikes_ were okay?” “Those are for _self defense!_ ”)-- which made Five roll his eyes, especially after Yamada impulse-bought the newest PlayStation model and a handful of games when Five had offhandedly mentioned having never played a video game before.

(Between dropping off the supplies at Yamada’s apartment and heading to U.A. Five quietly exchanged his loafers for the sneakers. If Yamada noticed, he was smart enough not to comment on it.)

Getting the tour of the school was probably the highlight of Five’s day. He didn’t need to choose anything aside from the size of his uniforms, and he could listen to every fifth word out of Yamada’s mouth or so to get the  gist of the history of the building and the layout of everything. If nothing else, Five could appreciate the sheer  _size_ of this place. It was even bigger than the Hargreeves’ manor back home, though he had to wonder if they actually used all  its empty space. At the end of the tour they had him change into U.A.’s uniform and take a photo for his ID card, which apparently doubled as an access card. He needed to  provide some information for it, which he filled out mindlessly before handing it to Yamada.

Yamada, however, frowned as he took the form. “You really put down ‘Number Five’ for your given name?”

“Yes?” Five said as if he was explaining it to a child. “It’s my _legal name_.”

The paper crinkled as Yamada’s grip tightened to fists. Five tensed, ready to grab onto his quirk, but Yamada’s hand loosened again as he took a deep breath and let it out. “Sounds like a pretty jerk move on your old man’s part.”

There it was again. Yamada was getting upset on Five’s behalf. Five shifted uncomfortably, not entirely understanding why that kept throwing him off so much. It wasn’t like he didn’t know his father was a self-absorbed asshole. Hearing it out loud from someone else shouldn’t be so different.

“He named us in the order he got us,” Five blurted out, though even as he said it he wasn’t sure why he did.

Yamada’s smile turned predatory as he said, “Your dad sounds like a guy I’d _love_ to have a karaoke contest with.”

(Five would never admit it, but despite how silly the threat should have sounded, a chill ran down his spine.)

“But enough about him,” Yamada said, waving away his anger with a practiced cheer. “Youth is all about reinventing yourself! Why not pick your own name?”

“If I wanted a normal name, I would have taken the name Mom gave me along with the rest of my siblings,” he pointed out. “‘Five’ suits me just fine.”

“Your mother?”

“She’s a robot the old man made when our nannies kept quitting,” Five explained with a shrug. “Not sure how he managed it. She’s a way better parent than he’s ever been.”

“I’m glad you have _someone_ , at least. What’s the name that she gave you?”

Five gave him a wry smile. “Nice try.”

Before Yamada could argue the point further, the door to the room opened and Nedzu scurried in. “Ah, I’m glad that you found a uniform that fit! Though normally it would be another few years before we’d be able to accept you as a student.”

“Yes, well, special times,” Five said with a grimaced smile.

“Indeed,” Nedzu agreed before holding up a pair of folders. “I have a few things for both of you. Hizashi,” Nedzu presented him with the thinner folder and switched to Japanese, possibly considering the language more private in front of Five. “[Please pass that on to Shouta when you get the chance. There’s been a change in his class’s roster.]”

“[A change?]” Yamada repeated, taking the folder. “[I thought Shouta hadn’t expelled anyone yet?]”

“[Ah, it’s not an expulsion,]” Nedzu clarified. “[The student in question requested a transfer to general studies after realizing he didn’t have the constitution to fight villains.]”

“[Ah.]” Yamada wrinkled his nose as he scanned the contents of the folder. “[A shame. He’s a resourceful kid, but he never really had a good attitude. Could’ve shaped up, but if he’s giving up this early….]”

"[Indeed,]" Nedzu agreed before turning to Five and switching to English,  “Well then, on to the next order of business . ” Nedzu  handed the  thicker file to Five. “We see no reason for you not to continue your education while you’re here, as there’s no telling how long you’ll be with us. In that folder is a series of tests for us to determine how far you’ve gotten in various subjects in your schooling. It’s perfectly normal if you don’t know a question--simply skip it and we’ll tailor your education based on the gaps of your knowledge. Functionally, it’ll handle as a self-study but you’ll have access to U.A.’s entire staff to correct assignments and to help you if you have any questions. Does that sound acceptable?”

“It does,” Five replied, idly flipping through the pages to see the equations and word problems--helpfully all asked in English. “I work well on my own.”

“Excellent! Then let’s go over a few logistical things while we’re at it--”

Nedzu droned on longer  than Five would have liked, but Five came out of the conversation knowing what was going to be expected of him. He didn’t appreciate being thrown in a classroom with other students so willy-nilly just because he ‘needed healthy social interaction with other children,’ but it gave him access to the school’s library and training facilities and if nothing else he was pretty sure  _those_ would be worth it. 

“Last but not least I want to give you this,” Principal Nedzu said, handing Five a thin, glassy device.

Five turned it over in his hands, brow furrowing. “What’s this?”

“A cell phone!” Nedzu explained cheerfully. “Though it can do much more than make phone calls. It’s like a computer in your pocket! Very convenient, no? I’m sure Hizashi will be happy to go over the details of how to operate it with you.”

Five furrowed his brow, turning the so-called cell phone over in his hand. It didn’t look like any phone that Five had ever seen…. But when the screen lit up in vivid color, displaying the time and U.A.’s logo over a galactic background, it suddenly hit Five all at once again that he was properly in the _future_ now.

Ben was going to  _lose his shit_ .

“Yeah! Not to worry, Lil Listener--you’ll be quoting memes and watching cat videos before you know it,” Yamada said, playfully punching Five’s shoulder.

“Thank you,” Five said politely before pocketing the phone. “I appreciate it.”

“Of course,” Nedzu said, nodding his head to Five. “Most everyone has a cell phone in this day and age, so it’s only appropriate. Just make sure you use it responsibly.”

Five wasn’t entirely sure what using a phone responsibly entailed but he nodded like he did anyway and said, “I will.”

“Excellent!” Nedzu said cheerfully. “Well, I’m sure the two of you still have plenty of settling in to do with this new arrangement, so I won’t keep you any longer. Let me know if either of you have any issues.”

Five couldn’t wait to be out of that room again, and apparently as they left the shift was palpable to Yamada, who just laughed and said, “You really are an introvert, huh? Well, not to worry. You’ve got some comfy pajamas and a weighted blanket waiting for you back home.”

Five scoffed and rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help but privately look forward to the idea.

Maybe he’d be able to slip off to his room early.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout-out to FeckedSpectrum, who let me steal Five's curriculum exam from her awesome fic [Wards of UA](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21008615/chapters/49963406). If you like strong hurt/comfort with Dadzawa, Dadmic, Shinso and Eri, you should check it out! It can get pretty heavy though, so be sure to read the tags and the warnings before each chapter.
> 
> Fecked has been instrumental to the creation of this fic, so I'm excited to be able to plug her here!
> 
> Next time:  
>  _Chapter 5: A Strong First Impression is The Boy’s Best Friend_


	5. A Strong First Impression is The Boy’s Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of Five's No Good Very Bad Day

The bed was too soft.

The smells were all wrong.

The room was too big; too quiet. He couldn’t hear Klaus below him giggling at a comic he’d smuggled in, or Ben’s night terrors next to him. (Or the other way around; it was really a toss of a coin which of his neighbors would wake Five up on any given night.)

At least in the hospital the bed was appropriately stiff and the monitors made enough ambient noise that it sounded vaguely like the machines that his father had them hooked up to every night. Here it was just too…

Quiet. Big.

Comfortable.

But Five was, in a word, _stubborn_ , and he refused to give up an inch of these newly-acquired luxuries. He wasn’t going to go out there and risk showing how restless and weak he was if he were to get caught.

No, instead, he just laid in his bed, hoping in vain that he might tire himself out as his brain worked in overdrive. He listened to the few noises the apartment afforded him, and even tried to poke around on his phone a little, though he had a hard time figuring out how to actually operate the damn thing and ultimately decided that staring at the ceiling would be more productive.

Once the sun started to rise and he could hear movements from the other room, Five took it as his cue to start getting ready himself.

He began with one of the polo and khaki pairs from the day before but they were hardly on his body for thirty seconds before he tore them off again. They felt fundamentally _wrong_ on his skin, stretchy, soft fabrics that belonged to civilians. _“The clothes make the man,”_ Sir Reginald liked to say, and Five _wasn’t_ a civilian. He wasn’t weak, he wasn’t a child, and he didn’t need all the comforts that Yamada insisted that he did. So he shoved the neatly-folded civvies into the drawer where Five resolved not to touch them again.

U.A.’s uniform was different from his uniform back at the Academy, but Five appreciated the pressed sleeves and the blazer anyway. And while he didn’t think that gray was his color, it felt more _familiar_ , and Five was starting to realize that that alone was worth its weight in gold.

Rather than risk running into Yamada in the hall, Five teleported directly into the guest bathroom to finish getting ready. While he was getting his hair in its usual coif, he heard Yamada moving from the master bedroom towards the kitchen. Five waited to see if Yamada would order a call to action like Reginald and Mom would, but none came, possibly because he thought Five was still asleep.

Not wanting Yamada to know Five was waiting for him, he teleported back into his room and stalled for a couple of minutes before exiting through the door.

Five was immediately hit by the smell of fried eggs and bacon, even before he rounded the corner to the open kitchen and dining area. Yamada was at the stove, hair pulled up into a bun like the day before and wearing comfortable-looking but fashionable civvies. He didn’t turn when Five walked behind him, though he did when Five could be spotted out of the corner of his eye.

“Hey, Lil Listener. You’re looking dressed to the nines already! You do know it’s not a school day, right? It’s Sunday.”

“Might as well get used to it, right?” Five asked with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Personally I’d rather be comfortable until I had to be somewhere, but you do you, Sunshine! Feel free to head on over to the table; I’m almost done with breakfast. It’s Western-style just for you!”

“...Thanks,” Five said, his stomach twisting a little as he made his way over to the four-person dining table and stood behind the chair he sat in last night. (Was it a nice gesture on Yamada’s part, or was that just another gesture on the ever-growing list of things Five is going to need to repay to Yamada and U.A. before this whole thing is over?)

“Sit, sit!” Yamada encouraged as he brought over a plate of food in each hand. He placed one in front of Five, and then another in his own spot. “Never met a kid so partial to standing.”

(Well Five never met someone who liked such ridiculous hair styles, but _Five_ wasn’t pointing it out.)

Five robotically sat down and prepared to eat in silence. At home his father would play informative records while they ate, not a second of their lives wasted. The night before, Yamada and Five had watched the news with captions together while they ate take-out. While Yamada occasionally talked over it or made a comment explaining something the newscaster had said, it was a surprisingly quiet affair. Today the TV was turned off, which left Five on edge and unsure of what to expect.

Sure enough, they’d barely started eating before Yamada began yabbering again. “How was everything? Did you sleep alright?”

“It was fine,” Five lied.

“You sure? You’re looking like you’ve got some bags under your eyes.”

“I _said_ it was fine, didn’t I?” Five snapped.

Yamada raised his hands in surrender, but a smile kept on his face. “Fair enough. Though if there _is_ some sort of issue and you have trouble sleeping, feel free to let us know. We’ll work something out for you.”

Five couldn’t shake the feeling that the offer was some sort of test so he just said, “I’ll keep it in mind.”

“Good,” Yamada said with a resolute nod. “In other news, you’ll be happy to know you won yesterday. Your ID is going to list you as Five Hargreeves.”

(Five did find himself smiling a little at that.)

“But!” Yamada continued, “I’m only going to be calling you by cutesy nicknames until you pick out a name for yourself.”

Five narrowed his eyes at the man, having already witnessed how easily Yamada managed to be absolutely intolerable. It wasn’t a bluff that Five could call, and Yamada would definitely double down if he was challenged. “Consider me warned.”

Yamada laughed, a little too loudly. “Geez kid, you’re talking like I threatened you!”

“Didn’t you?”

Yamada rolled his eyes. “Now! For the next order of business: Shouta’s getting out of the hospital today. Think you’ll be okay on your own for a few hours while I pick him up?”

“Of course,” Five said immediately. He’d welcome it, in fact.

Yamada nodded. “Good. Just to warn you though, he’s still going to be in pretty bad shape. He’s just good enough that the doctors can okay him leaving, but even with our best healing quirks it's still going to be a week or two before he’s going to start looking like himself.”

“Doesn’t sound too bad,” Five admitted as he ate. “My brother spent eight weeks with his jaw wired shut after he broke it on the stairs. Healer doctors are pretty convenient.”

Yamada faltered for a moment, but he caught himself before saying, “Yes, well, I mostly mention it because it’ll impact what we do around here. He’s always prone to overworking himself, and I’d like your help making sure that he actually gets some rest this time around.”

Ah, so there _was_ a test. But… “What can I do about something like that?” Five asked.

“I dunno. You’re a kid, right? Shouta’s got a soft spot for kids. Tell him he needs to set a good example for you.”

Five stared at him. “That’s not going to work.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m _already healed_ ,” Five said, holding up his previously-broken hand and twisting his wrist back and forth to hammer the point home.

“Well, yeah, but for next time,” Yamada elaborated, making a circular motion with his hand. “Just throw some puppy dog eyes in the mix and you’ll have him eating out of the palm of your hand!”

Five gave him the driest, most exasperated look he could manage. He didn’t _do_ puppy-dog eyes.

“Yeah, like that!” Yamada said with a grin that was all teeth. “You’ll do great!”

Five couldn’t tell if Yamada was fucking with him again or not.

"Does he even know I'm here?" Five wondered.

"Of course he does," Yamada said, waving it off. "I wouldn't just take in a random kid without talking to him about it first. He’s looking forward to meeting you properly.”

“And if he doesn’t like me once he does?”

“Eh, I don’t think you need to worry about that,” Yamada said with a shrug. “You’ve already made a pretty strong first impression, what with saving his students and all the stuff you said at the hospital.”

The color drained from Five’s face. “He--He was unconscious for all that.”

“Only for some of it,” Yamada corrected. “He didn’t know you were coming during the fight, remember? So he was already working on canceling that guy’s quirk when you stepped in. He saw the whole thing, right up to All Might showing up.”

Okay. Okay that wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but-- “What did he hear in the hospital?”

Yamada shrugged again. “Bits and pieces. Apparently he was drifting in and out of consciousness a lot.”

Five forcibly took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. He was fucked. There was no telling what Eraserhead could or couldn’t remember, which means that he could remember anything that Five’s ever said within earshot of him, which included at least one emotional ramble which no one was supposed to actually be there to witness. He was careless. Stupid. He shouldn’t have assumed the man’s condition and caved to the childish desire to say unnecessary things aloud. Eraserhead wasn’t Vanya. Wasn’t Diego. He was a stranger that had no business seeing Five’s dirty laundry that Five had been practically waving in the air for someone to see. The poor man _couldn’t move_ and Five just rambled on about whatever was in his head. It wasn’t a constructive use of either of their time, and he was probably confused and upset about why some random kid that wasn’t even in his class was talking to him like they actually knew each other instead of Five just casually spying on him while his arms were broken in enough places they could probably be tied like the knot Luther liked to leave his cherry stems in after plopping them in his mouth.

He couldn’t get rid of what Eraserhead already heard, but he could make him doubt it. Make a strong enough first impression that what he heard before ends up seeming like the rambling fabrication of a concussed mind--

“Hey, Kid.”

Five’s head snapped up, eyes finding Yamada watching him. “I was listening,” Five lied.

Yamada’s eyebrows pinched, but instead of looking angry or displeased he almost looked--concerned? When he spoke, he spoke quietly, “You don’t have anything to worry about, you know. Shouta didn’t hear anything that would make him think less of you. Just be yourself. He already likes you.”

Yeah, _right_.

Five knew better than to voice his skepticism, so he decided to distract Yamada instead. “Sure. So what can you tell me about the class that I'm going to be sitting in on?"

Thankfully, Yamada took the bait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave suggestions for cute names for Mic to call Five in the future! I'm going to need a lot to choose from, lol.
> 
> Next time:  
>  _Chapter 6: In My Defense, I was Left Unsupervised_


	6. In My Defense, I was Left Unsupervised

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Aizawa finally gets dialogue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early update this week because it's my birthday! Special thanks to [Kyirah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyirah/pseuds/Kyirah) for becoming this fic's beta!

Five stared at the charred monstrosity of hilariously overcooked rice and over-spiced still-partially-frozen chicken, the cookbook already discarded and deemed useless.

He took a deep breath. 

Luckily he had a five-step plan to salvage the situation. 

_Step 1: Dispose of the evidence._

* * *

“[How’re you feeling?]” Hizashi asked as he guided Aizawa into the car.

Aizawa groaned and practically fell into the seat before bringing in his legs.

“[Are you sure you don’t want to stay another night?]” Hizashi asked.

Aizawa glared up at his partner from under his bandages. “[Just drive the damn car.]”

Hizashi, ever stubborn, put a hand up to his ear, cupping it behind his hearing aid. “[What was that? ‘Thank you, my bestest friend in the whole world and platonic love of my life, for caring about my well being and putting up with my self-destructive tendencies so that I might know some peace of mind by returning to class long before the doctor recommends it’?]”

Aizawa sighed, letting the back of his head hit the headrest behind him. “[Sorry. That last dose of painkillers hasn’t quite hit yet.]”

“[Sounds like it.]” Hizashi shut Aizawa’s door and made his way to the driver’s side. “[If you need to nap on the way home, you should do it. Not just for you--the kid’s too jumpy to be able to handle meeting you in a bad mood right now.]”

Aizawa grunted, a pang of guilt in his chest. He’d already forgotten that they had company waiting for them. “[How’s he doing?]”

* * *

~~_Step 1.1: Panic when you can't clean the melted rice off the bottom and you've discolored both the rice and the pot with bleach._~~

_Step 1.2: Give up on the pot; teleport it out to the dumpster with the rest of the trash._

* * *

“[Better than expected, all things considered,]” Hizashi said, pulling out of the parking lot. “[He looks like he got about as much sleep as you last night, but other than that he’s been doing pretty well. He didn’t have any trouble talking back to me yesterday, though he seemed more on edge today.]”

“[Of course he is. He didn’t sleep,]” Aizawa pointed out, resting his eyes as they drove.

* * *

_Step 2: Create a cross-breeze._

* * *

“[He’s really nervous about meeting you,]” Hizashi said.

 _That_ made Aizawa pause. “[Me? Why?]”

“[Not sure. He changed the subject when I tried to convince him that you already liked him. Though he probably just thinks you’re cool.]” Hizashi chuckled.

“[I think it might be deeper than that,]” Aizawa said, vaguely remembering the boy comparing Aizawa to his brother in the hospital...

* * *

_Step 3: Put everything else back exactly where it had been before._

* * *

“[Have you looked into the boy’s family?]" Aizawa asked. "[And do you have a proper name for him yet?]”

Hizashi sighed. “[No on the name front. He refused to come up with one. I’m liking the nickname Sunshine today, though.]”

Aizawa didn’t have the energy to roll his eyes, but he did in spirit.

* * *

_Step 4: Fabricate a plausible cover story._

* * *

“[Principal Nedzu actually advised against looking into Sunshine’s past,]” Hizashi continued. “[Something something preserving the timeline or whatever. I almost started researching anyway, but as I was typing his family name into the search bar it ended up feeling like an invasion of privacy. What if I accidentally learned his name before he was ready to give it to me? I don’t want to be responsible for pushing a name onto him just because his future self uses it.]”

“[Hence preserving the timeline, I guess,]” Aizawa grunted.

“[Nedzu’s a genius for a reason,]” Hizashi said wearily.

“[Where does that leave us, then?]”

"[With a traumatized kid who's convinced he needs to shoulder an adult's responsibilities,]" Hizashi said with a sigh.

Aizawa let out a sigh of his own, unable to even pinch the bridge of his nose with his arms locked in slings and casts. They spent the rest of the drive home discussing the boy, logistics, and the new policies that Nedzu was implementing following the attack. They covered enough that Aizawa felt an entirely different kind of exhausted by the time they reached their apartment's parking lot.

* * *

_Step 5: Deliver the cover story confidently._

* * *

By the time Aizawa was approaching his front door, he could feel his gut twisting with nerves. Not out of some sort of misguided anxiety about meeting the child properly--he had enough practice meeting teenagers through his day job, thank you very much--but because he wasn't sure he could provide what Hargreeves needed in the state that he was in at the moment. But there wasn't anything he could do to change that, so he followed Hizashi inside without mentioning it.

"We're back," Hizashi called out in English, but Hargreeves already in the process of getting up before Hizashi opened his mouth.

The boy stood at attention better than any of Aizawa's students ever had, with his finely pressed uniform, shoulders back, and full attention on them. It almost would've been admirable to see if Aizawa hadn't known the reason he was that way was that he was groomed to be that way since birth.

"Yamada. Eraserhead," Hargreeves greeted, nodding to each of them in turn.

"Everything good while we were gone?" Hizashi asked, switching from his shoes to his slippers and keeping a hand on Aizawa's back to help him do the same.

"Pretty uneventful," Hargreeves reported, a touch of arrogance and insincerity in his body language and tone typical of an overconfident teenager. He gestured to a thick packet that lay open on their coffee table, in front of the couch he'd previously been lounging on. "I've just been working on the assignment that Principal Nedzu gave me."

A flicker of movement caught Aizawa's eye from behind Hargreeves, the curtain in front of the balcony door fluttering despite its weight.

"[Is the balcony door open?]" Aizawa asked in Japanese before he could think about it.

"[Ah, yeah,]" Hargreeves instinctively glanced at the curtain. "[I was--]" Hargreeves winced, quickly switching to a more formal, "[I had been--]" It was easy to see a rising panic behind the boy's eyes as he stumbled through a second language that was apparently escaping him.

"You can answer in English," Aizawa assured him.

"Thank you." Hargreeves cleared his throat, the back of his neck pink as he avoided Aizawa's and Hizashi's eyes by making his way to the balcony and sliding the door shut. The boy's shoulders were still stiff when he turned to face them again. "I just stepped outside for some fresh air earlier, and must've forgotten to shut the door. It won't happen again."

"You're not in trouble," Hizashi was quick to assure him. "Just shut the door behind you next time, yeah?"

"I will," Hargreeves promised.

Aizawa shifted awkwardly, guilt and exhaustion weighing on him just as much as his casts. "Sorry; I think I got us off on the wrong foot. I'm Aizawa Shouta, also known as Eraserhead. You can call me Aizawa. Hizashi and I are going to be taking care of you while you're here, so let us know if you need anything."

Hargreeves's eyebrows pinched together, one of them raising as he looked the mummy-wrapped Aizawa up and down, as if to silently say, 'In _your_ condition?'

Aizawa sighed. "I realize that I probably won't be much help for a while, but if you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them. I am a teacher, after all."

"I'll keep that in mind," Hargreeves assured with one of smuggest, insincere smiles Aizawa had the displeasure of having witnessed.

This one was _absolutely_ going to be trouble.

And that was _before_ Hizashi glanced towards the kitchen and asked, "Does something smell funny to you?"

Hargreeves's expression stiffened, and the color drained out of his face.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow at the boy, and despite the bandages covering most of Aizawa's face Hargreeves seemed to get the message anyway, slipping his hands into his pockets and avoiding Aizawa's gaze by turning his attention to Hizashi.

"I don't smell anything," Hargreeves said with an impressive amount of conviction considering that even _Aizawa_ could smell the strange mix of bleach and burnt rice over the lingering hospital antiseptic on his skin.

Undeterred, Hizashi just said, "Well _I_ do," and promptly went to investigate.

Aizawa turned to Hargreeves. "Do you have anything you want to tell us?"

* * *

_Step 6: Abort! Abort!_

* * *

Hargreeves looked Aizawa in the eye, gave a condescending smile, and said, "Nothing at all. Now, if you two are just going to be wasting your time out here, I'm going to take this," he picked up the packet off of the table, "and keep working in my room."

Hargreeves vanished from sight before Aizawa could get a word in edge-wise, and the door to the guest bedroom closed down the hall.

Aizawa could feel a headache coming on.

He forced himself to take a deep breath, hyper-aware of the bandages around his chest restricting the movement, and shuffled to the kitchen.

Hizashi was combing through their lower cabinets when Aizawa tapped Hizashi's rear with his foot and asked, "[Find anything?]"

"[Eh.]" Hizashi made a so-so gesture as he got to his feet. "[I didn't _find_ much, but I _did_ notice some stuff that's missing. Mainly some chicken, one of our pots, and this morning's trash.]"

Aizawa raised an eyebrow.

Hizashi continued, "[The smell is strongest around the sink, too. I think he tried to cook something and it went badly.]"

Aizawa instinctively glanced around the room to check for fire damage, but didn't see any. "[And the bleach?]"

"[That's the part I can't figure out,]" Hizashi admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "[The best I can figure he was trying to clean with it? Though I don't know why he'd fish it out of the laundry closet for this when there's dish soap right there....]"

Aizawa sighed, his broken arms feeling heavy. "[Even if it was just a mistake, I don't like that he lied about it. He needs to learn that that kind of behavior is unacceptable. Covering up mistakes and lack of communication can get people killed.]"

"[Yeah, I agree.]" Hizashi said with a grimace. "[I'll talk to him about it. In the meantime,]" Hizashi put a gentle hand on Aizawa's back, and Aizawa immediately melted into the familiar touch, resting his head on Yamada's shoulder. "[You look dead on your feet. C'mon--I've already got the bed set up for you.]"

"[Fine,]" Aizawa conceded, eyes already closed as Hizashi guided him to their bedroom. "[But wake me up if you need back up.]"

Hizashi snorted. "[Please! I've already been managing him for a day longer than you. I'll be fine.]"

"[Okay,]" Aizawa conceded, letting Hizashi ease him into bed. "[But I'll be here.]"

"[I can't forget it,]" Hizashi assured him, pressing a kiss to Aizawa's temple.

As Aizawa drifted out of consciousness, there was one thing he was sure of:

Hargreeves was going to be a repeated source of headaches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:  
>  _Chapter 7: Hubris_


	7. Hubris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yamada is a teacher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been A Week. Stay safe and take care of each other.
> 
> Continued thanks to [Kyirah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyirah/pseuds/Kyirah) for betaing this chapter.

Five was an idiot. He'd been kicking himself all day. _Prove_ _how competent he was by cooking a meal for them to have when they got back,_ he thought. _How hard could it be?_ he thought.

He was never taking Mom's job for granted again.

Why did he decide to try and do a complicated dish like chicken curry right off the bat? Why did he assume that cooking would be easy? Things had just gone from bad to worse! Now he had nothing to show for his efforts, and Yamada and Aizawa were suspicious of him! He should have just focused on the stupid packet and waited obediently for them--

But this apartment was so. _Small_.

It'd only been a day in this place and he felt like he was going to vibrate out of his _skin_.

At least in the hospital he could walk around the floor he was on, and as annoying as all the shopping was, at least it was _something_. But he had been left alone with only four and a half rooms to wander and _nothing_ to do with his hands.

He'd been training every day of his entire life in a house that had 42 bedrooms and he didn't know what to do with himself now that he couldn't train and wander whenever he liked. There was only so much snooping and pacing he could do, and neither of those would help him in his goal to make sure Aiazawa and Yamada very much knew Five was _not_ a child and should not be treated as such.

And look where it got him. Five had played himself, managing to prove the exact opposite to himself. At least he had been able to play it off well enough....

There was a knock at the door.

Never mind. He was just a failure all around, then.

Five rubbed at his forehead in an attempt to dispel some of the building tension in the front of his skull.

Five jumped as there was another knock on the door, and Yamada's voice came through the door. "Pumpkin?"

Five blinked dumbly at the door, having expected it to have been opened regardless by now. But he knew an opportunity when he saw it, quickly combing his hand through his hair and taking a deep breath before clearing his throat to say, "Come in."

Yamada came through the door with a small smile on his face. "Hey, Lil Listener. Can we talk for a minute?"

"I imagine that we will regardless of my answer to that question," Five quipped.

Yamada snorted, taking a seat on the edge of Five's bed. "You've got that right. C'mon." Yamada patted the spot next to him on the bed.

Five defiantly sat in the desk chair across from him instead, just to see what happened.

(The answer was, anticlimactically, nothing, aside from a fond roll of Yamada's eyes. _Why was he tolerating so much disobedience?_ )

"Okay, that works too," Yamada continued, oblivious to Five's continued bewilderment. His expression shifted from fond to serious, though, and Five found himself instinctively sitting straighter to match. "We need to talk about what happened while we were gone."

"Nothing happened," Five insisted with practiced ease.

"And more importantly, we need to talk about _that_ ," Yamada said, pointing a finger at Five. "You lying about it."

Five could hear his heart pounding in his ears, his hands gripping each other tightly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Yamada's frown deepened, and he raised a skeptical eyebrow at Five.

Five held his ground.

Yamada sighed, squaring his shoulders sternly. "Look--I'm sure you have your reasons. It probably kept you safer while you were with your dad. But that's not something we can tolerate here. It's okay if you mess up--but we need to _know_. You need to _tell us_. We'll help you fix it."

Five managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes, but he couldn't keep from snorting.

"Something funny?" Yamada asked.

"I'm not going to incriminate myself for you to use against me."

Yamada raised an eyebrow. "Is what you did illegal?"

"Of course not."

"Then it's not incrimination," Yamada pointed out, waving it off. "Besides, it's less about what you did, and more about the fact that you tried to cover it up. That sort of thing helps you in the short term, but always bites you in the long term. It's a bad habit to have, and can be deadly if you bring it with you to the field."

 _That_ got Five's attention, and he sat a little straighter. "Explain."

"Let's say that your job is to set up a series of traps in a perimeter around a villain's hideout," Yamada started, launching into the example easily. "But one of them breaks while you're setting it up. You know that if the higher-ups find out that it's your fault the equipment broke, they're going to charge you for it, but they won't if it's broken by villains. So you make it _look_ like it's set up, and everyone moves forward according to the plan. But there's now a hole in the security, and some of the villains escape through it. Now they're free to shoot at your teammate's backs or get a hostage or just go on to cause trouble another day. If you had told your teammates upfront about the issue you could have adjusted the plan accordingly."

Five rolled his eyes. "Who would just leave a hole in the security like that? Just adjust the plan accordingly to make up for the deficiency, only telling the others what they absolutely need to know."

"How do you decide what they do or don't need to know?" Yamada challenged. "What if they know something vital you don't?"

"Unlikely."

Yamada lightly flicked Five's forehead. " _Very_ likely. In this day and age, you're almost never able to predict who you'll end up working with. Those people are going to have different experiences and expertise that you won't have the first clue about, and you never know when that knowledge may be valuable. What if the damaged equipment reacts negatively with a teammate's quirk? What if someone else knows something about the make-up of the building or the people inside? You have no idea what information your teammates may have that may have been previously irrelevant that may suddenly _become_ relevant with a change of circumstance. Moreover, you should respect the people that you're working with, at least long enough to get the job done."

" _Okay_ ," Five said slowly. "But that's a highly specific example."

"You want something more general, then?" Yamada's grin was sharp, looking every bit the same predator that emerged whenever Reginald came up. "Let's say you try to cook something--" (Five's face _burned_ at being called out.) "--but it comes out wrong. It goes bad enough that it was unsalvageable, and it ruined what was supposed to be dinner for you and your teammates. You pretend it wasn't you, and you let your teammates fight about who was responsible. You drink the last of the milk but leave the empty carton in the fridge. You do a thousand little things that don't seem like a big deal and then run from the consequences.

"But in the meantime, your teammates are paying for your inaction, either by literally cleaning up your mess or by increasing friction in your team. They might bring that distrust with them into the field and cause them to underperform, or inadvertently cause situations that put themselves or each other at risk.

"And if they realize it's you causing the problem? In a worst-case scenario you could find yourself without backup in a crucial moment. You _need_ to foster good working relationships with the people around you, because they're the ones who are going to be saving your life in a moment of crisis. Plus, it just makes for a more pleasant relationship!"

Five gripped the fabric of his pants, chewing the inside of his lip as he took the time to let Yamada's words sink in.

Part of him wanted to dismiss the idea as something that could happen to _other_ people, not to _him_ , but the more he thought about it the more he realized Yamada was right. There had been so many times where Luther and Diego's squabbling had nearly gotten them killed and Allison needed to step in. One time Klaus took the fall for a prank that Five and Ben had set up, and when he came out of the extra training he didn't speak for a week. The tension between everyone shot through the roof without Klaus to break it up, and no less than ten arguments erupted in its abstinence.

Maybe if they weren't so busy throwing each other under the bus they would have figured out a way out by now.

(Maybe that was why Reginald always had them at each other's throats.)

"I suppose you're right," Five admitted grudgingly.

"Good. So do you want to explain the bleach?"

Five pulled at a loose thread at the end of his sleeve, his face redder than he would like to admit. "...The rice wasn't coming off the bottom of the pot. All I really know how to clean is blood stains so I tried the same thing. It obviously didn't work."

Yamada's face was surprisingly neutral before he raised an eyebrow. "If you were making rice, why didn't you use the rice cooker?"

"...There's a cooker specifically for rice?"

Yamada gave a scandalized gasp, a hand over his heart. "Okay, that's it." He stood and started heading for the door. "Come with me; you're going to help me cook dinner."

"Why?" The question slipped out before Five realized he was thinking it, and then quickly added, "I'm obviously not cut out for it."

"You're not bad at it, you're just inexperienced," Yamada corrected with a wave of his hand. "Besides, I _refuse_ to let you pick up Shouta's bad habits! No jelly packets! You're going to learn some basic survival skills if it's the last thing I do. Think of it as one more way you won't need to depend on your parents when you get back."

 _That_ sounded _very_ appealing.

"Okay."

Despite the mortification Five still felt in every fiber of his being, he stood and followed Yamada to the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to fabsatan for the "Pumpkin" nickname!
> 
> Next time:  
>  _Chapter 8: Cooking: It's Like Stabbing, But Productive!_


	8. Cooking: It's Like Stabbing, But Productive!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continued thanks to Kyirah for betaing this chapter!

It turned out that Five actually _liked_ cooking. Or cooking with Yamada after a restless day, at least. Yamada had an... _interesting_ teaching style. Instead of doing everything himself and expecting Five to memorize his words and actions or forcing Five to start a dish on his own and make him learn via trial-by-fire, Yamada did this weird combination of the two where he showed Five what he wanted him to do, and then let Five do it. Yamada would even take on separate tasks, as if he was a teammate rather than a commander. Sure, Yamada had forced him into an apron, and there were times where it definitely felt like Yamada was explaining things like he would to a small child, but at least that made it easy to follow and keep his uniform clean.

And if there was one thing Five had been trained to do it was to follow orders. (Even if he didn't always decide to follow them.)

So he let himself fall into an easy rhythm of familiarity, doing what he was told while keeping an eye on the larger dish as a whole. Step by step, they were making something that smelled _delicious_. Five finally had something productive to do with both his hands and his attention, and he found himself being lulled into a state that vaguely resembled being relaxed. Halfway through, he even shed his blazer and rolled up his sleeves.

"Go ahead and add the broccoli," Yamada instructed, stepping back so Five could scrape the vegetable off of the cutting board and into the pot. "Normally it's best to add greens like that last so that they still taste fresh when you eat them, but we need everything soft so it's easy for Shouta to eat."

Five frowned to himself, the thought not even having crossed his mind that Aizawa might have new dietary needs thanks to his injuries. Though he really should have, considering that when Klaus broke his jaw everything needed to be liquified for him. "Can he even eat solid foods?"

"Not really, but luckily for him, that's not that much different from his normal," Yamada said with a sly grin, an inside joke that Five wasn't privy to. "We'll be blending his portion."

Five wrinkled his nose, the idea of blended stew not sounding particularly appealing.

Yamada laughed. "Don't worry, the rest of us will be getting the full stew experience. With extra rice, just for you."

Five's face burned, glaring at the rice cooker that had been right in front of his face earlier and he hadn't known.

Yamada moved over to the sink. "Could you bring over the knives and the cutting boards? We'll clean everything up while we're waiting for the stew to finish."

Five did as he was told, and with minimal instruction Five helped dry the dishes after Yamada washed them.

Yamada smiled at him. "So what did you think of your first _proper_ cooking experience?"

"It was more engaging than I expected," Five admitted. "I didn't realize how long it took. I probably wouldn't make something so complicated for myself if it were just me."

(Five leaves out the fact that it was never supposed to be _just him_. He was part of a set of seven, and he shouldn't be needing to learn how to cook at all.)

"Hate to break it to you, but stew is one of the easiest things you can make," Yamada said. "You just throw ingredients into a pot and _voila_!"

Five's frown deepened, but Yamada just laughed.

"Okay, so you're probably not destined to be a professional chef, but that's not a bad thing. You're better at cooking than you were this morning, right?"

(Wasn't _that_ a concept. That being _better_ could be prioritized over being _perfect_.)

"There's certainly that," Five agreed, the cloth in his hand stilling as he looked at his reflection in the knife's blade. He stared at it a beat too long before setting it aside. "I've been thinking about what you said earlier. I'll admit, the thought that I may some day be teaming up with heroes other than my siblings never crossed my mind. But... given the circumstances... it would be a good idea for me to reevaluate the way I think about certain things."

Yamada looked at him, eyebrow raised. "Is that your version of an apology?"

"I don't know if I'd go that far," Five said quickly. "But it is... a resolve, of sorts. To do better."

"Promise?" Yamada offered forward a fisted hand, pinkie extended towards Five.

Five looked between Yamada's hand and his face, brow furrowed. "What is this?"

"A pinkie promise," Yamada explained cheerfully. "It's a thing over here. If you mean what you just said, hold your hand up like this."

Five eyed him suspiciously, not sure if Yamada was fucking with him again, but cautiously mirrored Yamada's hand. "I promise."

Yamada hooked his pinkie around Five's and repeated a surprisingly morbid children's rhyme in Japanese before releasing Five's finger.

Five stared at him. "What was that part about a thousand needles and dismemberment?"

Yamada laughed. "It's just how the rhyme goes. It's supposed to show the seriousness of the promise; to acknowledge upfront that there will be consequences for going back on your word and vow to keep the promise regardless. The words are just tradition at this point--you don't have to worry about it."

Five could read between the lines, though. Even if the punishment wouldn't be the same as the rhyme, there would still be punishment for Five lying in the future.

(The problem was, Five _didn't know_ if he lied when he made that promise. He'd done it because it was expected of him, asked of him, and because he'd made more promises that he'd backed out of than he could count. What weight did a promise hold that was made in reflex?)

"Can you start setting the table?" Yamada asked as he spiced the stew. "I'll get Shouta's portion ready and then wake him up for dinner.

"Okay," Five agreed easily, moving to pull out dishes and cutlery from where Yamada had shown him the night before.

It was kind of silly, now that Five thought about it. He knew all about where to place napkins, the difference between a salad fork and a dinner fork, and the correct hand and angle to hold a knife depending on the country, and yet Reginald never thought it necessary for them to know how to learn how to cook. How was the appearance of sophistication more important than the ability to keep yourself fed?

Then again, _most_ of their lives were about putting up appearances.

A loud buzz and a catchy jingle echoed through the room and Yamada swore, quickly turning off the blender and grabbing his phone off of the counter.

"[This had better be important,]" Yamada answered, his posture straightening as he took his conversation into the living room area, keeping his voice low.

Five slowed down his task, listening in as he set the table for three, but he needn't have bothered. Unless Yamada was particularly good at subterfuge, which Five doubted, he wasn't saying anything interesting. Just arguing over shifts and schedules.

Once he finished his task, Five went out of his way to get cups and water for everyone, but not even that stalled long enough for Yamada to finish with his phone call. There was only so much busy work Five could assign himself before his hands became idle. He needed to prove that he wasn't lying--at least long enough for Yamada to forget the promise altogether.

Five eyed the blender. Should he finish the task for Yamada? No, he doubted that Yamada would appreciate Five adding a lot of noise in the background of his call.

Instead, Five was drawn to the door down the hall, where he knew Aizawa was resting. He knew how dangerous it could be to wake someone when they weren't expecting it, but Aizawa could barely move in his state. Five liked his chances of survival. Plus he...

Well. He _wasn't_ going to apologize. Five still didn't see the point of that. But Aizawa deserved an explanation, at least.

Quietly, Five removed the apron from around his neck, hanging it up properly before sneaking down the hall on foot. Luther liked to accuse Five of teleporting any time, any where, for any reason, but that wasn't true. The impression wasn't unfounded but, regrettably, walking properly had its uses.

For instance: it was _quieter_ than a jump.

So he toed his way down the hall (which was significantly harder in slippers than it was in socks or shoes) and found himself in front of the master bedroom, hand extended towards the handle.

(Why _was_ he sneaking? Yamada had told him outright that first night that he was hard of hearing as a side effect of his quirk. Five didn't understand disclosing a weakness like that, but Five would have figured it out regardless. There was no way that Yamada could hear him. And even if he could, Five doubted that Yamada _would_ scold him for this. He barely told him off when Five covered up his mistake earlier. Was he sneaking out of habit?)

Five shook off the thought, and squared his shoulders as he pushed open the door.

Unsurprisingly, the room hadn't changed much since Five had snooped around it a few hours ago--the obvious difference being the bandaged man lying on the bed, an incline-shaped pillow under his shoulders.

Five barely took a couple of steps into the room before Aizawa started to shift, the bandages on his face shifting to allow two red-rimmed eyes to look in Five's direction.

"[Dinner is going to be ready soon,]" Five said in Japanese, just to prove that he _could_ after his failure earlier.

Aizawa blinked a couple of times, scanning the room quickly before asking, "[Where's Hizashi?]"

"[Phone call.]"

Aizawa grunted and, impressively, managed to sit up despite the poor state of his upper body. "[Thanks. Hizashi talked to you?]"

"[He did.]"

"[And?]"

"[He gave me a lot to think about.]"

"[And?]"

Ah. He was looking for some sort of specific answer. Unfortunately, Five didn't know Aizawa well enough to know what exactly he was looking for. Instead, Five wet his lips and made an educated guess. "[And I won't lie next time I make a mistake.]"

"[Good. See that you don't.]"

(Ah, so that was the right answer after all. Just like before, Five wasn't sure if he really intended to keep that promise, but it was interesting to see that the two of them valued honesty over their missing and destroyed property.)

An awkward silence fell over the two of them, any thoughts Five might have had about explaining himself dying in his rising anxiety. At least Aizawa looked just as awkward, glancing at Five and then at the floor, his arms shifting in their slings.

It was Aizawa that broke the silence first. "[Are you okay?]"

Five blinked. What kind of question was that? "[I'm not stupid enough to hurt myself.]"

"[That's not what I meant,]" Aizawa said, eyeing him through his bandages. "[You've been displaced into a different time and been told to live with a couple of strangers without your old support system. I wouldn't blame you for being on edge or upset.]"

Five stiffened where he stood, suddenly missing the blazer he left on the counter. He forced himself to relax his posture and focused on rolling his sleeves back down to his wrists.

"[It's not that different here,]" Five lied, because while the world was surprisingly similar _this house_ was as different from what he knew as things could get.

"[How long has it been?]"

"[A little over 200 years.]"

"[Nothing's changed in 200 years?]"

Five could _feel_ the incredulity radiating off of Aizawa more than he could see it, and Five just shrugged. "[It's not _my_ fault you guys didn't invest in cool tech once you got super powers.]"

Aizawa sighed, and for a moment it looked like that would be the end of their conversation, but then he turned to Five again and said, "[I appreciated you visiting me in the hospital.]"

It was like Aizawa had knocked Five's legs out from under him. Five didn't waver--he was better than that--but he was quiet a beat too long before saying, "[You didn't even know me.]"

"[Even still.]" At least Aizawa was looking properly embarrassed now, averting his eyes. "[It was a good distraction from the pain.]"

Five stared at him, not sure what to do with that information. He felt oddly raw from Aizawa's admission, an open sore being prodded, and for the second time in this conversation he missed his blazer.

Instead of engaging with the complicated tangle of emotions in his chest, Five snapped, "[Do you need any help getting up or not?]"

Instead of answering with words, Aizawa just stood, and Five found himself wondering why they'd been having this conversation at all.

"[Dinner's ready,]" Five repeated, leading the way back to the kitchen with burning ears.

He was going to grab his damn blazer and not take it off for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Pinkie promise.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinky_swear)
> 
> Next time:  
>  _Chapter 9: Haven't Any of You Heard of Personal Space?_


	9. Haven't Any of You Heard of Personal Space?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsuyu POV!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 31st birthday to the Hargreeves!
> 
> Continued thanks to Kyirah for betaing this chapter!

"[Hey, hey, did you watch the news last night?]"

Tsuyu rubbed her eyes as Hagakure gushed to Ojirou about the class's literal one second of screen time on the news. Tsuyu was never one to care about fame one way or another, and even if she couldn't blame her classmates from getting excited, she had a hard time joining them in their good mood.

If it weren't for Five, she would have _died_.

The thought was deeply sobering, and was one that had been haunting Tsuyu and her family ever since. Her parents actually took time off of work to spend time with her and her siblings as a family. It was nice to have everyone together for longer than a hurried breakfast, but even everyone doting on her couldn't stop the nightmares.

It probably wasn't healthy, but Tsuyu kept peeking at the news every time she had a moment to herself. She wanted to know if the villains who'd attacked had been caught yet, if they found any more information that made what happened make any more sense than an attempt on All Might's life gone wrong, but the news seemed to have been fed a sanitized version of events, a version where the threat was minimal and the only people injured were villains and teachers.

Five's presence was eliminated entirely.

"[Everyone! Morning homeroom is about to start! Stop talking and take your seats!]"

Tsuyu jumped in her chair at Iida's loud order as Jiro pointed out, "[We're already in our seats.]"

"[You're the only one who's not,]" Sero added on.

"[That's not true,]" Iida said from the front of the room, pointing with a chop of his arm to the empty seat between Midoriya and Yaoyorozu. "[Mineta has yet to arrive! Does anyone know his whereabouts?]"

Kaminari frowned, looking back at Mineta's desk. "[I tried to message him a couple of times over the weekend, but all he said was that he had to think some stuff over.]"

"[Trauma, maybe?]" Kirishima suggested with a frown.

"[Hey, Tsuyu,]" Mina nearly fell over as she leaned back to ask Tsuyu, "[Any idea who's gonna teach homeroom today?]"

Tsuyu pushed the chair upright again. "[Well, Mr. Aizawa is supposed to be in the hospital recovering from his injuries--]"

She was immediately proven wrong as the door slid open and Aizawa, covered in bandages and casts, stepped inside, kicking the door closed behind him with a casual, "[Hello.]"

"[So you're alright, Mr. Aizawa?]" Iida said happily.

"[Can you really call that all right?]" Ochako mumbled in horror.

"[Sit down, Iida,]" Aizawa ordered, nodding back to Iida's seat. As Iida rushed to do just that Aizawa replaced him at the podium. "[We have a lot to cover today, so we're going to get right into it. Yaoyorozu,]" he looked at her. "[Move up a seat. Mineta's requested to transfer to General Studies, and it was approved over the weekend.]"

Whispers broke out among the students, throwing each other concerned glances and speculating about what happened as Kaminari threw his arm in the air and blurted out, "[Why's he doing that?!]"

Tsuyu had a pretty good guess, considering how scared Mineta had been during the attack. She couldn't say that she was going to miss him.

"[You'd be better off asking _him_ for his reasoning,]" Aizawa said, sounding even more tired than usual. "[The transfer was already finalized by the time I was released from the hospital.]"

That quieted the remaining whispers, though several students exchanged nervous glances. Tsuyu herself caught Midoriya's eye, and the grim set of his mouth only grew.

Midoriya was the only other person who knew exactly how bad it was for the three of them. How they were close enough to Aizawa to smell blood when he was knocked unconscious. How a few centimeters and a wayward middle-schooler was all that kept Tsuyu alive.

He could understand exactly why someone might want to drop out after what they saw.

She nodded back to him.

"[Moving on: some of you may have seen a young foreigner during the USJ attack,]" Aizawa continued, and Tsuyu straightened up in her seat. "[Both the school and the police have looked into his presence, and have determined that him being there was entirely coincidental. He has a teleportation quirk that went haywire when he was pushing his limits and ended up with us after having jumped through both space and time.]"

"[ _Time?!_ ]" Kirishima repeated incredulously, just barely keeping from jumping out of his seat. "[He's a _time traveler_?!]"

"[Ohhh is he from the future?]" Hagakure asked gleefully. "[Did he say we all become super-famous heroes?]"

"[No, he's not from the future,]" Aizawa corrected tiredly. "[Which is the reason this is a particularly delicate situation. He doesn't have control over the time-travel aspect of his quirk yet, so there's no telling what would happen if he were to attempt another jump right now. Principal Nedzu has decided it's best for him to stay under U.A.'s protection until we figure out a way for him to get back to his own time safely.]"

An anxious knot loosened in Tsuyu's chest at that news. Even if Five was outside his own time, at least he had somewhere safe to stay.

"[The principal has also decided that, while he won't be participating in the curriculum, the boy will be sitting in some of our classes while he works on his self-study. You all are our trial class for this system. Feel free to talk to him between classes, but remember he has his own workload. And most importantly,]" Aizawa met each of their eyes in turn. "[Do _not_ talk to him about history while he's here. We need to preserve the timeline as much as possible. Midoriya? That means you.]"

Midoriya gave a little yelp and a quick "[Yes, sir!]" while Bakugo cackled in front of him.

Aizawa gave another look over everyone before nodding and making his way back to the door and sliding it open with his foot. "[Come in and introduce yourself.]"

And there he was. Five strolled in after Aizawa like he owned the place, only giving the class a cursory glance before putting on a plastic smile and saying in Japanese, "[Hello, I am Hargreeves Number Five. If everything goes well, I'll be out of your hair before you know it.]"

It didn't look like most of the class knew what to make of Five. A few of them, like Hagakure, were excited about the prospect of meeting a time traveler. Some of them looked concerned, like Kaminari and Sero, exchanging confused and wary glances with each other. Bakugo narrowed his eyes, his gaze never leaving Five, who barely even spared Bakugo a glance. Midoriya, on the other hand, looked like he was halfway to throwing up, both hands covering his mouth as he tried and failed to look away.

Aizawa glanced at Five and nodded to Yaoyoruzu's vacated seat in the back. Five took the hint and vanished before everyone's eyes, appearing right next to the empty chair and sitting down in an instant.

"[Hargreeves!"] Iida stood faster than Tsuyu could turn around to look at him. "[I understand that you are new and unfamiliar with the rules, but please keep in mind that there are to be no quirks outside the designated training areas!]"

"[Right. Sorry about that,]" Five apologized, not sounding sorry at all.

"[As the Class President, it's my duty to make sure that your transition goes as smoothly as possible! If you need a copy of the student handbook, I'll be more than happy to provide you with one. Please see me at lunch to discuss this further.]"

"[Iida, sit down,]" Aizawa scolded for the second time. "[Hargreeves? Iida is right. He's also in charge when a teacher isn't around, got that?]"

"[Got it,]" Five said absently, pulling out a packet and already getting to work on what Tsuyu assumed was the self-study that Aizawa had mentioned earlier.

"[Right.]" Aizawa took a deep breath. "[Now. The U.A. Sports Festival is coming up in two weeks.]"

* * *

When lunchtime rolled around, all anyone was talking about was either the sports festival or Five. By the time Tsuyu pulled out her bento, there was a small swarm of students crowded around the corner desk, Five trapped and leaning away from all of them.

Iida, true to his word, was the closest and was halfway through a lecture when Hagakure shoved him out of the way to ask Five, "[Are you really from the past? What year?]"

"[Hagakure!]" Iida scolded before Five could get a word in edgewise. "[That is highly inappropriate behavior unbecoming of a U.A. student!]"

"[Sucks that you arrived in the middle of a mess like that,]" Kirishima said, rubbing the back of his neck. Quickly recovering, he clenched an enthusiastic fist. "[I'm sure U.A. will figure out how to get you back in no time, though!]"

"[That's right,]" Yaoyoruzu assured, turned around in her new seat to face Five. "[And if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm the class's vice president and always happy to help.]"

"[Haruga--Harugurii--bleh,]" Mina wrinkled her nose from the edge of the swarm, before asking herself more than Five, "[Why's your name so hard to say?]"

"[Really?]" Kaminari turned to her in surprise from his spot sitting on Tokoyami's desk. "[I don't think it's that hard. Hargreeves.]"

Mina's brow furrowed in confusion, struggling to sound out the name back to him. Her expression suddenly brightened and she leaned past Kirishima to ask, "[Hey, hey, can we call you Haru?]"

Instead of answering, Five disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing just outside the door and heading towards the cafeteria with purpose.

"[So that's a 'yes,' right?]" Mina grinned conspiratorially at the boys in Five's absence.

Kaminari matched her chaotic grin. "[He didn't say no!]"

"[I dunno guys,]" Kirishima frowned. "[It's not very manly to call someone by a name they don't like.]"

"[Bakugo literally calls you _Shitty Hair!_ ]" Mina pointed out incredulously.

"[Tsuyu!]" Ochako all but barreled into Tsuyu, grabbing her shoulders and, with a burning passion in her eyes, declared, "[ _I'm gonna do my best._ ]"

Tsuyu blinked at the non sequitur before remembering the other major announcement today. "[Oh, the sports festival? I'm sure you'll do great, Ochako.]"

Ochako blinked, pulling away a little to look at Tsuyu better. "[Everything okay, Tsu?]"

"[I'm fine,]" Tsuyu assured her, patting Ochako on the arm and extracting herself from Ochako's grip.

"[Are you sure?]" Ochako asked. "[You've been distracted all day.]"

"[Yeah, I'm fine, ribbit. I just wanted a chance to talk to Five,]" Tsuyu explained, glancing at the door.

"[Five? Oh, the new kid!]" Ochako chuckled. "[Yeah, pretty much everyone wants to talk to him. I think they wanted to make him feel welcome, but they just sort of ended up crowding him out, huh? You could probably still catch him in the cafeteria?]"

Tsuyu nodded, her grip tightening on her bento. "[Yeah. I'll go look for him.]"

"[Good luck!]" Ochako called as Tsuyu walked quickly down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **No new chapter next week** because I'll be posting the first part of a different fic in place of our regularly scheduled update! 
> 
> _[Wake Up, Zoom In](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26890066/chapters/65612974) _follows Shinso and Mei's growing relationship as they work towards figuring out what support gear will work with his quirk. If any of you Shinso stans feel like trying out the rowboat that is Shinso/Mei with me, I think you'll be in for a good time. If not, see you in two weeks!__
> 
> __  
> _Next time:  
>  _Chapter 10: 'Academy' is just a Fancy Word for 'School'__  
> 


	10. 'Academy' is just a Fancy Word for 'School'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsuyu attempts to befriend Five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continued thanks to Kyirah for betaing this fic!

Since it was still early and everyone in their grade had lunch at the same time, the lines were still long to get food from Lunch Rush. But surprisingly, Tsuyu didn't find Five in line. Instead he was off to the side, staring up at the posted menu up on the wall with a furrowed brow.

Tsuyu was able to walk up right beside him, double check his line of sight, and say, "Do you need any help?" before Five noticed her with a small jump.

"Tsuyu." Five cleared his throat. "I, uh. Didn't notice you."

"The cafeteria _is_ pretty loud, kero," Tsuyu agreed, looking up at the board again trying to puzzle out Five's problem. Did he have some sort of food allergy? Was he embarrassed about his order? Did he know what all those dishes were? Wait. All of the items were written in kanji, and there wasn't any furigana.... She turned to Five. "Do you need me to read out the lunch options?"

Five stiffened next to her, a blush creeping into his cheeks as he flexed his fingers by his sides. For a moment she expected him to deny it, but apparently he was aware enough of his limits to mumble a quiet, "Yes, please."

Tsuyu beamed at him.

Once Five could actually understand his options, deciding what he wanted was a quick affair, and Tsuyu voluntarily waited with him through the line, even though she'd brought her own lunch.

"Kanji can be pretty hard, huh?" Tsuyu asked conversationally.

"Tell me about it." Five sighed. "My father had us learning all sorts of languages, but he prioritized western ones like Greek and Latin. He'd have these recordings that he'd play that would teach us languages while we did other, more important things. One of those languages was Japanese. And while I think I can understand everyone and speak it well enough, I'm embarrassed that all I really learned was the hiragana and katakana alphabets."

Tsuyu tilted her head, but decided to hold off on her curiosity about his home life to say, "Kanji can look scary when you're first starting out, but eventually you'll figure out patterns that make them make sense. My younger brother is learning kanji right now, and my little sister will be starting next year. If I see any books on learning kanji, I'll pick up a copy for you."

Five's brows pinched together, eyeing her suspiciously. "Why would you do that?"

"It's the least I can do after you saved my life."

"Oh." Five's expression slackened, looking away awkwardly before meeting her eyes again. "I see. Well. In that case... I'd appreciate it."

Tsuyu smiled at him. "You're welcome, kero."

Five gathered up his lunch and Tsuyu led him to an empty table near the rest of their class.

"Sorry about everyone earlier, by the way," Tsuyu said as she sat down. "We can be rowdy."

"It's okay," Five said with a sigh. "I'm used to rowdy. [You can speak in Japanese, by the way,]" he continued, switching languages. "[I'm not going to get better if everyone goes easy on me.]"

"[It's good practice for us too, ribbit,]" Tsuyu pointed out, even as she too switched back to Japanese. "[I doubt most of our class has experience speaking English outside of class.]"

"[What about you?]" Five asked. "[You speak English pretty well.]"

"[My parents hosted an American exchange student when I was a kid,]" Tsuyu explained as she unwrapped her lunch. "[I picked up a bit of a knack for it. If you need someone to talk to in English, you can talk to me or Aoyama. Midoriya and Kaminari are pretty good at it too. Actually, I think I heard that there was an American exchange student in class B already. I guess you're ours now, ribbit.]"

Five scowled and muttered a few unkind words about the principal.

"[By the way, what name would you like me to call you?]" Tsuyu asked with a tilt of her head. "[Should I call you 'Haru' too?]"

"[I'd rather you didn't. I prefer the name 'Five', but I know that you normally use family names in Japan.]"

"[I don't mind calling you Five, if that's what you want,]" Tsuyu said. "[Do you want me to tell off the others?]"

Five shook his head. "[They can have their fun. It doesn't matter what they call me; I'm not planning to stick around long.]"

"[Are you really that close to figuring out a way back?]" Tsuyu asked curiously.

"[It's all a matter of figuring out the proper equation that'll get me home,]" Five said with a surprisingly confident nod.

"[You could always talk to Yaoyorozu to help you out with complicated math. She's the girl that sits in front of you--she's really smart.]"

"[No offense, but this is above normal high-school level math,]" Five said, leveling a condescending look at Tsuyu.

"[So is Yaoyorozu.]" Tsuyu held firm.

Five raised an eyebrow at her, and Tsuyu didn't waver under his gaze.

"[Huh. Okay,]" Five said, breaking eye contact to eat some of his food. "[I guess I'll consider it, then.]"

"[Good.]" Tsuyu said, eating one of her octopus-shaped sausages. "[Your family sounds pretty interesting.]"

Five snorted. "[You could say that. Is what Midoriya said earlier true? The school sports festival here replaced the _Olympics_?]"

Tsuyu could spot a deflection when she saw it, but if Five didn't want to talk about his family she wouldn't press him. "[Mr. Aizawa said we're not supposed to talk to you about history, ribbit.]"

"[It's not _history_ if it's current, is it?]" Five argued. "[I'm--]" He screwed up his face before continuing in English, "I'm not planning to go back and run a campaign for it to stick around or anything; it just seems _weird_. The Olympics are an international event for a _reason_ , and important to international relations. Why would it be scaled down to a single high school in Japan?"

"I don't really know much about it, to be honest," Tsuyu admitted. "I think it's still a thing in other countries? But in Japan the top hero school in the country gets to show off their students so their hero students can start building recognition with the press and the public. Right now that's U.A., kero."

"Huh." Five mulled that over. "Interesting. I'm familiar with the media machine and how important brand recognition can be. It certainly helps when trying to get the public to listen to you when you're younger than them."

"Are you a hero student back in your time?" Tsuyu asked.

"I'm more than a hero student, I'm a _hero_ ," Five clarified, chin up and shoulders straight. "My siblings and I were the first of our kind, back in America. We were called the Umbrella Academy. You might have heard of us."

"Nope; doesn't ring a bell," Tsuyu said bluntly. "And isn't 'academy' another word for 'school'?"

Five winced, color rising to his cheeks. "It was our father that was in charge of branding. It's different, because we went out and fought actual crime. It doesn't count if the villains are bringing the fight to you."

"U.A. has internships with hero agencies starting in second year, and those interns are basically sidekicks," she pointed out. "You're kinda young for doing any of that stuff, but it doesn't sound all that different to me."

" _It's different,_ " Five insisted with a sharpness in his voice that gave Tsuyu goosebumps.

"[Hey, Marty McFly!]"

Bakugo made his way over where they were sitting and slammed his hand on the table between Tsuyu and Five. Tsuyu instinctively leaned away from the aggressive action, but Five didn't flinch, just looked up at Bakugo with a pinched expression.

"[That's not my name.]"

Bakugo barreled on as if Five hadn't said anything. "[I don't know what you told the cops to get them on your side, but I'm not buying it. You just so happened to show up at the same time as all those villains? What a joke.]"

"[Bakugo--]"

Five snorted, an unpleasant smile on his face. "[So what? Are you going to prove to everyone that I'm a villain?]"

Bakugo narrowed his eyes at the boy. "[I'm going to expose the truth.]"

"[Good luck with that,]" Five said confidently, returning to his meal.

Bakugo started rolling up his sleeve. "[Oi, don't you ignore me--!]"

"[Bakugo!]" Tsuyu stood and grabbed Bakugo's arm. "[Stop it. He's on our side, ribbit.]"

"[You too, Frog Face?]" Bakugo turned his glare at Tsuyu, but she didn't back down.

"[Five saved us,]" she said bluntly, taking a step into Bakugo's personal space. "[Midoriya, Mineta, and I. He helped us get Mr. Aizawa to safety. He got hurt for us, when he could have stayed hidden and safe. That doesn't sound like a villain to me. Besides, he's just a kid.]"

"[I'm _thirteen_.]" Five protested quietly behind her.

Bakugo scowled at her, looking between her and Five. Finally, he took a step back and jerked his arm out of his grip before pointing at five. "[I'm watching you.]"

"[Good.]" Five said, though his sneer was shaky. "[You might learn something.]"

Bakugo looked like he was about to jump Five again so Tsuyu stepped between them and met Bakugo's eyes.

In the end he clicked his tongue, and made his way elsewhere in the lunchroom.

Tsuyu let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and went to sit down again.

Five was watching her movements carefully, eyes sharp and... searching? His brow was furrowed at her in the same way it had been when he was trying to read the kanji on the lunch menu.

"[You didn't need to do that,]" Five pointed out. "[I was telling the truth, and I'm here under the protection of the teachers and the principal. Even if he looked, he wouldn't find anything.]"

"[Even so, it was the right thing to do,]" Tsuyu said easily before offering her hand forward. "[Pass me your phone? We can set up a text-to-speech app that might make things easier for you.]"

Five was still looking at her with a furrowed brow and a slack jaw, but he placed his phone in her hand anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I'm Five, thirteen years old, and I never learned how to read Japanese."
> 
> Thanks to mx_spelled for suggesting Marty McFly as a nickname for Five!
> 
> If you missed it, I posted a [new fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26890066/chapters/65612974) last week!
> 
> Next time:  
>  _Chapter 11: Not the First One_


	11. Not the First One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Kyirah for betaing this chapter and for suggesting the chapter title!

By the time Tsuyu was done fiddling with Five's cell phone it was a lot easier for him to use. Not only was the default language switched to English, but she also installed a number of useful programs such as Japanese-to-English dictionaries, a language learning "app" that would let him learn at his own pace, and a slightly finicky "app" where he could take a picture of Japanese writing and it would translate it on the screen.

Five loved the future.

He didn't get a lot of time to experiment with said apps before they had to get back to the classroom, but Five was looking forward to testing them out properly. He was especially looking forward to increasing his Japanese literacy before any of the adults realized he was struggling on that front. (Which was why he was leaving his Japanese literacy section of Nedzu's test for the very end.)

He was a little surprised that the second half of the day passed as combat-free as the morning had, but at least it let him continue his work with minimal distractions while he kept an ear on the lessons.

But things couldn't remain quiet for long, it seemed, as the exit for the classroom was swarmed by even _more_ students. (What was _with_ this school and crowding people?)

"[They're scouting out the enemy, Round Face,]" Bakugo explained calmly as he made his way toward the door. "[We're the ones who made it out of the villains' attack, so they probably want to check us out before the sports festival.]"

A tall kid with purple hair made his way to the front of the pack and started trying to dress down the class, making his intent to transfer into the hero course clear, especially now that there was a spot open. It was interesting to see that U.A.'s sports festival held greater weight than just a publicity event for some students, and how fierce that competition was. It seemed that not even U.A. was immune from pitting their students against each other.

Though Five idly wondered why that kid thought he was good enough to be in the hero course if he failed the entrance exam, he didn't care enough to stick around or ask, especially as another loud student started yelling from out in the hall.

Five sighed and turned to Tsuyu, who was hovering nearby similarly watching the scene unfold, and said, "[I don't have time for this. Want to skip the line?]"

"[Ribbit?]" Tsuyu tilted her head as she looked at him.

Begrudgingly, Five had to admit that he liked Tsuyu. She didn't flinch standing up to either Five or Bakugo, a confidence born of assessment and moral standing rather than any form of arrogance or ignorance. She was easy to talk to too, occupying a similar space of quiet and consideration as Ben and Vanya did back home. Not to mention the fact that she stood up for him when she didn't have to.

(It scared him, a little. The more people he liked here the harder it would be to go back home. And he _will_ go home; he _has_ to go home, has to go back to his family.)

"[Sure?]" Tsuyu replied, offering her hand forward.

Five stepped forward and took the crook of her elbow instead, jumping the pair of them several dozen feet down the hall past where the crowd had gathered.

Tsuyu stumbled half a step, looking slightly greener than usual, before looking at the crowd they left behind them. "[Huh. That's pretty convenient.]"

Five opened his mouth to agree when a shout unmistakably belonging to Bakugo rang out over the crowd, "[Get back here you _Back to the Future_ reject!]"

Five didn't know what the fuck that meant, but he didn't feel like getting swept up in whatever it was.

"[Good luck,]" he said, briefly waving a hand at Tsuyu before teleporting down the hall and away from the nonsense about to unfold.

Yamada had warned Five that, as teachers, he and Aizawa would need to stay at school longer than the students were required to, so Five would need to stay longer as well. Which was fine by Five--he was looking forward to finding out how useful the library was going to be to him, or at least start catching up on the training he'd been slacking off on.

But first: Five had finished all but the Japanese portion of Nedzu's test. It was broken up into sections that Five could turn in to the appropriate teacher when he was finished, and he was thinking of turning in one or two of the sections he was more confident. It was enough that they would know he was making progress, but not enough for them to think he might be holding back for a reason. He needed to play this smart, if he wanted to come out the other side of this looking competent.

Pulling the science and math sections to the front--featuring questions with ranges so wide as to include both "Name all the planets in our solar system" and "List at least 3 of the faults of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor that caused the disaster and how you would combat them" on the same test--Five headed over to the Teacher's Office.

The door was already open when Five reached it, several desks pushed together in the center of the room to create small spaces for each teacher. Most of them seemed to still be out teaching though, because the only person in the room was a gaunt man with a mane of blonde hair.

"Ah, hello." The teacher smiled at him, immediately noticing Five's arrival (and apparently his ethnicity). "You're Young Hargreeves, correct?"

"That'd be me," Five confirmed. "And you are?"

"Ah, sorry about that." The teacher rubbed the back of his neck and gave Five a sheepish smile. "You can call me Mr. Yagi; I'm a newer teacher at U.A., but I'm fluent in English. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you out, okay? I know it can be overwhelming being in a foreign land all by yourself."

Five carefully kept his expression the same, but he mentally perked up at the opportunities he could see with Yagi. He was fresh meat, still not sure of his position, and possibly less trained in keeping information hidden. Five might be able to extract some more details about the time that he missed from this man.

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience. Find yourself in a similar situation?"

"Nothing quite as adventurous as your situation, I'll admit," Yagi said, waving it off. "But I did spend quite some time in college studying abroad in the United States."

_Bingo_.

"There's certainly a lot of differences between the two countries," Five said, putting on a smile and trying to match the man's amicability. "I was surprised that you're not supposed to use quirks here. It doesn't really seem fair to be told not to use a talent that you're born with. Some might even think of it as a higher calling."

Five wasn't even sure what he was looking for--he just knew that any scrap of information he could get his hands on had the potential to be useful, and he wasn't about to waste an opportunity right in front of his nose.

Yagi laughed lightly, seemingly unaware of Five's ulterior motives. "That's a very American way of thinking about it. Quirks are in a pretty tricky spot, legally speaking. Because they can do just about anything, it's hard to draw a line between what's acceptable public use and what isn't. In Japan we solved the problem by banning the use of all quirks unless they're by licensed heroes. In America, they're treated more like concealed weapons--you can get a permit to be able to use your quirk in certain situations, especially if you go into a field where your quirk could be beneficial. It's a more nuanced system, but people are more likely to escalate a dangerous situation with their quirks rather than wait for professionals."

_I_ _nteresting_. "That sounds like a thing Americans would do, yeah," Five agreed, thinking of a few overzealous civilians from his missions. "Back in my time, there were this cool superhero group called the Umbrella Academy. Have you heard of them?"

"Hm." Yagi held his chin. "It vaguely rings a bell, but I can't remember for what. If they were one of the earlier heroes, there's bound to be--"

"My, what a fascinating discussion!"

Five startled, somehow completely missing the Principal hovering right behind him, and judging by the coughing fit Yagi just fell into, he hadn't noticed Nedzu either.

"Though cross-cultural exchange is essential for broadening horizons, I would advise you from probing for any information regarding your own lifetime, Mr. Hargreeves. Some knowledge is best left unknown, yes?"

Five glared at Nedzu. "But it's okay for you to know?"

"Of course. It's my job, after all!" Nedzu said cheerfully. "Now, you came here for a reason, did you not?"

Right. His test.

Five offered the two packets forward to Nedzu. "Here. I haven't finished the rest."

Nedzu took the papers and skimmed through them, expression as inscrutable as always. "These answers are very thorough! I look forward to going through them in more detail. May I check your progress on the other subjects as well?"

Five tried to school his expression again, but felt his face twitch regardless. "Like I said, I haven't finished them yet."

"I'd never hold something like that against you, I promise!" Nedzu said, in a cheerful tone that Five was certain was covering more sinister intent. "I just want to track how fast you work, you see. Unless you have something to hide...?"

Damn him. He'd cornered Five yet again.

Reluctantly, Five took out the rest of his test and handed it to Nedzu, watching him flip through the packets with the same quaint expression.

Once he was finished, he looked up at Five. "You haven't had any education with how to read or write Japanese, have you?"

Five's face _burned_ , having been exposed to the one person he wanted to know that fact the least. "No," Five grumbled. "I haven't."

"That's not a problem," Nedzu said, straightening the stack of packets. "Frankly, it's impressive that you speak Japanese as well as you do, considering your unbalanced education. I'll look over these tonight and draw up your new curriculum as soon as possible."

"Unbalanced?" Five repeated, furrowing his brow.

Nedzu ignored him. "In the meantime, would you accompany me to the gym? I'd like to take note of your physical abilities as well."

"I thought I wasn't allowed to participate in the Hero classes."

"You're not," Nedzu confirmed. "But we cannot give you control over your quirk with theories alone. We need to observe and develop your quirk so that you can return to your proper timeline."

A chill ran down Five's spine, subconsciously straightening his posture.

Training. As much as Five missed it, the idea of doing it with Nedzu was deeply uncomfortable. The Principal was already scarily good at reading Five and outclassing him; he didn't want to give him any more power than he already had.

But Five knew how things like this played out. He'd get dragged down to dark rooms and told to teleport out. Out of closets and cupboards and into vaults and out of restraints and into places barely large enough to fit him and jumping faster and faster and faster and _faster_ , push his limit while knowing it was never enough.

He hated it.

(He knew he didn't have a choice.)

"Of course," Five said, falling in line out of habit. "Lead the way.

* * *

Training with Nedzu was different than Five had expected. Rather than actually challenging Five, he just had Five perform a series of arbitrary tasks, letting Five use his quirk however he liked. Racing, jumping, lifting, throwing a ball, it all felt so... mundane. Like an actual high school. (Which, Five supposed, it was.)

"Do you feel comfortable making a time-jump?" Nedzu asked at the end of it, where Five was only slightly out of breath. "Just popping forward a second. Just enough to do it."

Five raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not worried I'll get turned into an acorn?"

"Well, you've obviously done this successfully before," Nedzu pointed out. "And it will be necessary for you to do it again in order for you to get home. So it's best to start small and work out the kinks. We could wait to start exercises like this, but I believe it would only be delaying the inevitable."

Five took a deep breath and reached forward with his quirk, anxiety pooling in his gut as his hands glowed. (What if he messed this up? What if he ended up in another time entirely, again? What if he lost all of this stability that had somehow, inexplicably, been afforded to him?)

No. He had to focus.

Five pictured the world one frame ahead of the one he was currently on. Everything was just a little _off_ , just enough that if you flipped between the two everything was in a slightly different place than before. The world had turned, an arm had moved, and a boy jumped from one page to another, passing through a space where the images overlapped and could leave someone cross-eyed.

Five came out the other side in one piece and, once again, decidedly not an acorn.

Relief and hope filled Five's chest and he pumped his fist with a quiet, _"Yes!"_ before he heard scratching on a clipboard and he remembered who he was with.

"That was a five second jump," Nedzu said cheerfully, looking up at Five. "We'll have to work on your finesse regarding this aspect of your quirk, but I think we're off to a very good start. Feel free to get changed and head back to the teacher's lounge--Shouta and Hizashi should be finishing up by now. I'm sure you want to rest after such a long first day!"

Nedzu turned to leave, but Five stopped him with a, "Wait!"

"Yes?"

Five stared him down. "What do you want with me? You obviously have some sort of bigger plan for me, so what is it? What do you get out of me being here?"

"My dear Mr. Hargreeves, that would be _telling_ ," Nedzu said mysteriously, paws held behind his back. Though instead of leaving Five to stew in unanswered questions, Nedzu lingered in the doorway, eventually saying, "It may be hard for you to believe, but I'm doing what I am with you and your siblings' best intentions at heart." He glanced over his right shoulder at Five, the scar over his eye on full display. "You aren't the only ones to undergo experimentation due to your quirks."

Five stared at him, slack-jawed as he walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Lelaro, who inspired the "planets" question on Nedzu's test!
> 
> This is the last chapter I have completed from my buffer, so updates may be a little more sporadic from here on out. I'll do my best to keep my updates as regular as possible, though!
> 
> Next time:  
>  _Chapter 12: Ordinary._


	12. Ordinary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a head's up, this update is a little heavier than most that have come so far. I'm almost done with the next chapter, so you should be able to expect an update on time next week. Take care of yourselves and each other. 
> 
> Thank you to 1001paperboxes for betaing this chapter!

"You should let me join," Five whined as he kept pace with Aizawa's long strides, the both of them trailing behind the rest of the class as they made their way to the locker rooms. "I'm strong enough! I can handle being in a hero class with the rest of them!"

"No," Aizawa said, resolute as the last time Five had asked. "Even if I wanted to let you train with the others, it's illegal for children under fifteen to take part in battle training exercises like this."

Five didn't _pout_ \--because he was _above_ pouting, damn it--but he _did_ sulk the rest of the way to the gym. He didn't even bother changing into his gym uniform as he passed through the boys' locker room to get to the training area.

The sting was eased a little bit knowing that he'd be getting his own training later. Even if he somehow understood Nedzu even _less_ than the first time they'd met.

(He wasn't sure if he believed Nedzu's story. It wasn't even a _story--_ just an implication left for Five to fill in the gaps. And even if he was telling the truth, just because he said he had Five's best interests at heart, that didn't mean that he actually did. Reginald often said he was doing what he did for their own good--and Five hadn't seen any evidence of that be true outside of situations that Reginald had put them in himself.)

Whatever. Five wasn't going to waste this opportunity. He's going to spend the time watching these hero-hopefuls and see what the future of heroics really was.

The students emerged from the locker rooms in small groups, talking amicably amongst themselves and generally looking excited or determined to be there. A number of them caught his eye and waved at him, which Five ignored except for Tsuyu, whom he gave a nod. Curiously, when he caught Midoriya staring at him, Midoriya quickly looked away and not-so-subtly hid behind his tall friend in the armor.

Five didn't even have time to raise an eyebrow at this before a strong blast of air made him take a steadying step back.

"I am here... to teach a class on heroics!" All Might proclaimed after his flashy entrance, striking a pose.

Five hadn't had much chance to observe the man during the USJ fight, having been herded out of the building as quickly as possible by students and teachers alike, but he still couldn't miss the man's presence and power. He seemed much less impressive now though, fumbling over note cards as he explained the exercise the class was about to perform. It sounded closer to a game to Five, with teams and a common but conflicting goal, and the bandaged Aizawa on standby to make sure none of them went overboard. ("I'm expelling anyone that makes me use my quirk today.")

While the students were getting ready in their designated spots, All Might and Aizawa accompanied Five up to an outdoor observational platform where they could clearly see all the students as they prepared for the exercise to start.

* * *

There was never one particular moment that proved that Luther and Ben were the strongest among them. It simply _was_ , like how water was wet and that Pogo, however kind, would never directly disobey one of Father's orders. It was an overwhelming sort of power that Luther and Ben had, in different ways, and it forced the rest of them to sprint and plot ways to keep up. Five and Allison were particularly good at this, using every edge they could find to propel themselves forward to their own goals.

Five could outsmart Luther. Use his size against him and hit him where he's weakest, only doing a fraction of the damage it'd do on someone else. Sometimes Five would even squeak in a win that way.

But even _he_ couldn't do much in the face of the sheer awe-inspiring destructive power of Ben.

Looking out at class 1-A train, it felt like he was staring down a stampede of Bens.

It was overwhelming. These untrained _children_ , with no combat experience save for what they managed in the attack Five appeared in, _easily_ outclassed all of his siblings. Five had talked a big game with Bakugo the day before, but just watching the boy move Five knew he couldn't teleport fast enough to avoid Bakugo's explosions. Luther couldn't hold a candle compared to the strength that Midoriya displayed, and even Ben would be jealous of the amount of control the bird-headed boy had over the demon coming out of _his_ chest.

Five's knees trembled, his grip tightening on the observational railing to compensate.

He'd known for a while that having powers was the norm now. Every person he saw in the street or in the hall had them. But only standing here, watching _them_ , did he finally understand the _depth_ of that reality. With a year of training, every single one of these would-be heroes would outclass him.

He wasn't special. He wasn't strong. Every moment of his miserable thirteen years of life was for nothing because now he was nothing but--

 _Ordinary_.

The word all but slapped him in the face. Was this what Vanya has been feeling all this time? Forced to sit on the sidelines, watching these amazing people fight and grow with excitement and fear? Yearning to join them even as she feared them, an ambition festering in her stomach, under her skin, buzzing as the best she could do was just support them on their journey? How many times was she hurting as Five rattled off another formula or theory about time travel? How many times was her quiet support laced with bitterness?

Now Five's arms were trembling too and the realization was too much; he couldn't stay here or he'd _collapse_. Blindly reaching for his quirk, he pulled himself away, away from powerful children and watchful adults.

But he couldn't run away from himself.

His knees hit a cold tile floor and his hands followed as he tried and failed to steady his breathing.

All this time one of his best friends had been hurting, and he'd never realized. What kind of self-absorbed asshole _was_ he? And what did it say about him that the part of him worrying about Vanya was smaller than the achingly large void left in the absence of being "special"?

He wanted to throw up.

Instead, a strangled sob escaped his throat and he curled into a tight ball, clinging his knees to his chest, unable to stop the stinging of his eyes as he gasped for breath.

He hated this. He hated being weak. He hated being ordinary. He hated that he was broken enough to show it.

He wanted to go home.

He wanted to go home and give Vanya a hug and _kill_ their father for forcing them to fight when they would have been _just fine_ having childhoods and learning how to be heroes when they were older. He wanted to get his siblings as far away from that suffocating house and that suffocating man as possible but he can't because he was so _stupid_ he got himself _stuck_ here--

Five startled as the sound of a heavy door opening echoed across ceramic tiles and metal lockers. His breath hitched, clutching his sleeves and reaching for his quirk, when Aizawa's voice called out a harried, "Hargreeves?"

Five let out an involuntary sniff, and the mere act of exposing that chip in his armor was enough to set Five off again, a full-body sob raking through his chest as he curled himself even more tightly around his knees. He fumbled for his quirk but it slipped through his fingers as easily as the tears fell down his face.

He could practically hear his father's voice yelling for him to, _"_ _Get up, Number Five! Do you think the world will simply stop turning simply because you're upset? You must control your emotions!_ _"_

Five refused to look up, but he could hear Aizawa kneeling next to him. "What happened? Are you injured?"

He felt like his heart was forcibly ripped out of his chest and trampled under a horse-drawn carriage, but he had a feeling that wasn't what Aizawa meant. He shook his head pathetically, his arms trembling.

"Okay." Aizawa shifted next to him, moving so that he was sitting on the ground with his back against the wall next to Five. "Just breathe, okay? Deep breaths."

Five took a shuddering breath in and let a shaky breath out.

"That's good. Do that again."

Five did.

"Good. Can you tell me what happened?"

 _What happened_ was that Five and his siblings were bought from their families like cattle and raised as child soldiers, and it was _completely unnecessary_ , what the _hell_ \--

Five reached out and grabbed Aizawa's sleeve above the cast, white-knuckled as Five raised his head and looked into the man's black eyes. Aizawa was as hard to read as always, but his eyes looked a lot like Vanya's did every time Five came back from special training with their _father_.

( ~~Their owner?~~ )

"Why?" Five's voice was hoarse from crying. He let his knees fall to the floor as he turned to face Aizawa. "Why is it that they all get to be so good right out of the gate, huh?" Five pointed accusingly at the door Aizawa came out of. "They're all greenhorns! Most of them don't even know how to move their bodies properly to fight! They don't have any experience! _Why are they so strong?!_ What was the point of us going through all that shit if we could have just showed up as teenagers and been just as good?! It's not fair!"

Even as Five's voice broke, he knew the answer. He was raised by a selfish, egotistical man whose sights and ambitions were set somewhere in the stars. What did it matter, if he destroyed a few kids' lives so long as they fulfilled his elusive, unstated objective?

What a joke.

He was crying again; this time for the people that he and his siblings could have been, but would never have the chance to be. He let himself fall forward and rest his forehead on Aizawa's shoulder, still clinging to the man's sleeve like a lifeline.

"You're right, it's _not_ fair," Aizawa said slowly, once Five's crying quieted. "I don't know the details of what you and your siblings have gone through; but from what little you've told us, you've been facing far too much for far too long."

"It doesn't _matter_ ," Five bit out, stopping down on the swell of validation in his chest. "Because I'm going to go back there, and I'm going to have to dance to that man's tune all over again. We all will."

Aizawa quieted at that, probably because he recognized the inevitability as well as Five did. Five used the chance to catch his breath, and wipe his eyes on his sleeve.

"At the very least," Aizawa started, causing Five to raise his head. "We can give you the tools you need to survive better when you go back. Skills you can teach your siblings and make it easier to get out from under his thumb."

(Because _that was the best they could do_ went unstated.)

"Right." Five finally released Aizawa's sleeve, leaning against the wall again. "Wouldn't that interfere with your precious timeline?"

Aizawa shrugged. "Wouldn't know. I haven't checked the history books. For all we know, you were meant to come here."

Five blinked, something about that sticking in his mind, but all he could focus on was how stiff and crusty his eyes felt right after crying. He kept himself from rubbing his eyes again though, now that he could properly see that he was sitting on the floor of the boys' changing room.

After another few moments of silence, Aizawa pointed out, "You look tired."

"Imagine that."

"C'mon." Aizawa nudged Five's shoulder with his arm. "I've got a sleeping bag in the office."

Five raised an incredulous eyebrow at him. "A sleeping bag? Really?"

"Really."

"And you're just gonna let me, what, sleep for the rest of the day?"

"Until we head home, sure, why not? There's a couch in the teacher's lounge if you want to lay down, though I usually like curling up under my desk where people can't see me."

Five stared at him, but at the end of the day, he was just too exhausted to try and fight him on it. Despite how wrong it felt, neither Aizawa or Yamada had lied to him yet. There was no reason to think this is where they would start.

"Lead the way."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time:  
>  _Chapter 13: Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Sandwiches For The Soul_


	13. Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Sandwiches For The Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to 1001paperboxes and kyirah for betaing this chapter!

"I'm going to get us out of here," Five promised through grit teeth as he clutched his quantum-physics book tightly enough for his knuckles to match Ben's pale face. "I promise."

Ben didn't say anything. He rarely did, after his special training sessions with their father. Sometimes he was trembling. Sometimes his eyes wouldn't focus. This time, he sat on Five's floor with Vanya, letting her rub awkward circles on his back.

"If anyone can do it, it's you," Vanya said, though the words were rote; empty. She's said it before and would say it again, but she didn't have the energy to actually believe it anymore.

"Where would we even go?" Ben asked, bitterly voicing the thought they were all thinking.

Their father's shadow seemed to engulf the three of them, stretching far across the floor and up onto the wall. He wasn't actually there, but his presence still pressed in on all sides of them, reminding them that he was the one in control. He had the power and the money and the influence, and no matter where they ran he would find them.

It was suffocating.

_Suffocating_.

The space around Five shrunk smaller and smaller, until Five was scrunched against his knees without any space to breathe, wrists and ankles bound and several dozen jumps past his limit. Five couldn't breathe and yet he struggled to reach beyond. Further and further, if he could just do _one more jump_ \--

* * *

Five wheezed as he dropped two feet and his back hit the floor. Groaning, he blinked dumbly up at his ceiling and tried to shake off the throes of sleep.

How embarrassing. He hadn't jumped in his sleep in years.

Five sat up and rubbed his face, looking at the tight room around him. Despite its small size, it brought him some relief. He was in the future now, safe from Reginald for the first time in his life.

Without Ben and Vanya, or any of his other siblings.

Five clenched his fists, a desperate longing clawing at his chest, tearing at his insides and threatening to rip him apart.

He'd tried to look them up after he got back from school earlier. Now that his phone was set up properly, he could do things like look things up on Boogle. He'd looked up everything from their names and numbers to their hero names and the Umbrella Academy. He even looked for his father and Grace and Pogo, but every single one of his searches were blocked.

Knowing this was definitely the work of the principal, Five sent his first text.

**Five Hargreeves:** You tampered with my phone.

**Principal Nedzu:** :)

Five had nearly thrown the phone across the room.

Thanks to Nedzu's damn meddling, the incessant need to check up on his siblings continued to crawl under his skin; apparently burrowing far enough to invade his dreams.

What happened to them? Did they ever get free of their father? Did Five make it back in time? What did they look like?

He wanted to know.

He knew it was a bad idea, though. Part of him was scared, too. If he saw what became of them, it would feel more real. Like maybe he'd end up failing before he even tried.

(Maybe everyone had the right idea by keeping him from looking things up.)

Either way, he wasn't getting back to sleep any time soon. So he pushed himself off of his ass and teleported; first to the bathroom and then to the kitchen. Five gathered a knife and a plate and was halfway to pulling down the peanut butter and marshmallows from the pantry when he flinched as the kitchen light flicked on.

"Oh, there you are," Yamada said, relief in his voice as he stepped into the light and put in his hearing aids. "Shouta said he heard something from your room, but you weren't there. Gave me a bit of a scare."

Ah, right. Teleporting around the apartment probably _would_ sound weird to Aizawa. And since Five was used to using as little light as possible, it'd be pretty hard for Yamada to investigate, given what he could and couldn't hear.

"Sorry," Five said hoarsely, depositing his haul on the counter before returning for the bread. "I'm fine, as you can see. You can go back to bed."

"Nah, I'm good. What're you making?"

Five shot him a deadpan look with a raised eyebrow, scooping out a healthy amount of peanut butter before slathering it over a slice of bread. He followed it up by dumping a handful of marshmallows on top of the peanut butter and closing the sandwich with a second slice of bread.

"Huh. Gotta say, I haven't seen _that_ combination before. Looks good, though."

Five didn't answer, opting for taking a bite of his snack instead. The texture wasn't quite right--the peanut butter was crunchy, and the bread was thicker--but it still managed to taste like _home_.

He _wasn't_ going to cry again, but he did savor his next bite.

"I'm gonna join you," Yamada declared, sauntering right up next to Five and started making his own peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich.

For a moment neither of them said anything, and Five was allowed to eat in peace.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Yamada asked, watching Five out of the corner of his eyes.

"About what," Five said moodily around his sandwich.

"Any of it." Yamada shrugged. "All of it. Whatever happened earlier. What happened just now."

"I don't," Five declared.

"Okay."

Five waited a beat, his frown growing before blurting out, "I just don't get how strong they all are. None of them have prior training, right?"

"Who? Shouta's class?"

"The one I observed earlier."

Yamada held his chin as he thought. "Some of them have. Todoroki's the kid of the number two hero and probably has been training with him for quite a while. Yaoyorozu and Iida both have some prior training experiences too, and Ojirou was the top of his level of his martial arts class when he applied for U.A."

"But nothing for _real_ combat?" Five pressed. "Aizawa said it wasn't legal for people under fifteen."

"And he'd be right," Yamada said, taking a bite of his sandwich, eyebrows pinched for a second before shrugging and taking a second bite. "Honestly, Shouta and I think that fifteen is still too young, but it's not like we can change how heroics is taught across the country overnight. We just try to make sure the kids that come into our care are prepared for what they're signing up for by the end of their time at U.A."

"Which makes sense," Five said, nodding along. "But that doesn't explain how good they are with their quirks. Their quirks were just as strong if not stronger as any of ours at the Academy. And--supposedly!--they weren't supposed to be using them until now. What gives?"

Yamada hummed thoughtfully. "Well, there's a theory that quirks have been getting stronger since they first appeared? Since they started mixing and matching with each other. So it wouldn't be all that surprising that the average quirk here was stronger than you were used to."

Five pouted--and he couldn't deny it this time because Yamada noticed and laughed at him, tapping Five's nose with his finger. "Don't worry, Cupcake! You're still plenty special. You were among the first, after all! And even nowadays teleportation quirks are pretty rare, let alone one with a time travel component!"

Five hated that that actually _did_ make him feel better.

"So what's Nedzu's deal, then?"

"Now isn't _that_ a mystery for the ages," Yamada said, shivering. "Long story short, he's one of the smartest sentient beings alive, and we're _very_ lucky that he wants to use his intelligence for good."

Five could've guessed that much. "He implied that he was... experimented on?"

Yamada's eyes widened, the look magnified by his glasses. "He told you about that?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "He never talked about it to me before, but it was a big story at the time. Animals with quirks are rare but they do happen; and Nedzu was rescued from a lab experimenting on animals with quirks. It raised a lot of ethical dilemmas about who and what counted as a person. Nedzu actually changed a few laws before settling down as principal."

"Interesting," Five said, finishing his sandwich. "I know a talking animal back in my time, too. He doesn't have a quirk though; my father made him that way through science. Which is probably even _less_ ethical, now that I think about it. If that sort of thing is a big deal, that'd explain why he wasn't let out of the grounds."

"Your father experimented on animals?" Yamada asked, somehow still surprised.

Five scoffed. "Why wouldn't he? First you make a sentient monkey your butler and then you buy a bunch of kids and run experiments on them until they're heroes. Logical progression."

Five could feel the bitterness seeping into his words. Part of him felt a little bad lashing out at Yamada when he'd only been kind to Five so far, but Five was so _angry_. Reginald was _lucky_ that Five wasn't in the same time as him, because Five couldn't promise he wouldn't just pick up an ax and be done with him, consequences be damned. But Reginald _wasn't_ here, and Five felt just as bloodthirsty with no outlet.

A hand was placed on Five's opposite shoulder, and he barely had time to register that fact before he was pulled into a hug.

Five froze. He'd never been physically affectionate, but that wasn't by choice. He and his siblings were constantly scolded for showing weakness like wanting physical comfort. They've all defied it at one point or another, some more often than others, but Five was always striving to prove himself. To show that he was better than his siblings, just as valuable as Luther or Ben, and he closed himself off much more than anyone save Diego. Aside from the occasional hug from Vanya, only Klaus had the gall to hug and touch him regularly. Five would never admit it, but he really enjoyed when Klaus did that.

Yamada wasn't Klaus, but Five found himself relaxing into the hug anyway, leaning against Yamada with his arms at his sides, forehead resting against the man's chest.

Keeping his tone surprisingly light, Yamada declared, "You know, I _really_ hate your dad."

Five snorted.

"And I have the feeling what you've said so far hasn't even scratched the surface of what you've been through." Yamada ran his hand through Five's hair, and Five couldn't help but be reminded of the times when Grace had done the same thing. "Part of me doesn't want to send you back."

That admission _hurt_ , because the second it was spoken, Five realized there was a part of him that didn't want to go back either.

And that idea was so, _so_ much scarier than facing his father.

Five pushed himself away from Yamada. "My siblings are still back there."

Five couldn't bring himself to look at Yamada, but Yamada's voice sounded fond as he said, "I know. I wouldn't dream of trying to keep you here. But I hate the idea of sending you back into a dangerous situation on your own."

Five took a deep breath and raised his head, staring down the hall that led to Aizawa and Yamada's room. "Aizawa said that... maybe I was meant to be here. That maybe I could learn some sort of skill or tool I could bring back to help my family."

"Yeah? Shouta said that?"

"Well, not all of it," Five admitted. "But that's what I took from it. I mean, Nedzu's training my quirk and is having me continue my education, so he seems to be of the same mind on that front."

"Huh. Well, I was thinking of having a conversation with Nedzu about what we can do to help on our end anyway. It wouldn't hurt to bring up the idea."

"I was just gonna do it." Five gave a sly grin. "I mean, could any of you _stop_ me from learning things I shouldn't?"

"Brat." Yamada went in to ruffle Five's hair again, but Five teleported just out of his reach and playfully stuck his tongue out at him.

"Alright, alright, point proven," Yamada said, placing his hands on his hips. "I do have a question for you, though."

"Hm?"

"What does it mean to be a hero?"

Five furrowed his brow, not really sure what Yamada was getting at. "Like... the definition of hero?"

"Sure. Just give it your best guess."

Frowning, Five said, "It's someone with powers saving someone in trouble from an outside threat."

Yamada hummed. "That's certainly one way of putting it."

"One way?"

"Yeah. I've heard as many definitions of it as there are people. It's interesting. You should ask your classmates about it sometime--their answers might surprise you. As might the reasons that they decided they wanted to become heroes."

Five raised an eyebrow. "What, are you giving me homework?"

Yamada laughed. "Yup! Basically. But that's a problem for future you. For now, are you feeling better?"

Five blinked, looking down at his hands in surprise as he realized he did feel better than when he woke up. "...Yes."

"Good!" Yamada stepped forward and pat Five on the Shoulder. "How about we both try and get some more sleep, hm? We both have school in the morning, after all."

Five nodded, letting Yamada lead him back to his room.

He _wasn't_ going to stay here. That wasn't an option. But he could use what he learned here to make sure that he and his siblings would find a way out. He'd already proven that escape was possible--he just needed to make sure that he could find a way to keep his siblings safe too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to fabsatan for suggesting the "Cupcake" nickname!
> 
> I absolutely love the sheer volume of consistent speculation this fic seems to generate, both about the world of this AU and the possibilities of certain characters meeting. It really makes me happy to see everyone so engaged with this story. The fact is though, several of you guys are outpacing the scope of this fic! Despite the word count, this story is focused on a very narrow window of the BNHA timeline, and it feels like so many of you are itching to cut your teeth on a story that has broader implications than mine. 
> 
> So I wanted to let you know that **if you're feeling inspired by this AU and feel like creating fanworks based on this fic, go for it!** I want everyone to be able to play in this AU if they want to. Just be sure to link back to this fic or list AUF as an inspired work when you upload it to AO3 so we can find your story easily! And be sure to send me any fanart; I'll include links to it in the author notes!
> 
> You all have such great ideas, I didn't want anyone holding back from creating fanworks because they were afraid to step on my toes. Feel free to run with whatever ideas catch your fancy!
> 
> Next time:  
>  _Chapter 14: What It Means to be a Hero_


	14. What It Means to be a Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continued thanks to Kyirah and 1001paperboxes for betaing this fic!
> 
> Since it's been a Minute since the fic started, I thought it might be good to do a quick recap. 
> 
> **The story thus far:** After storming out of breakfast and trying to time travel for the first time, Five Hargreeves ended up in the middle of the USJ fight, where he met Tsuyu and formed an emotional attachment to Aizawa. Nedzu knew who Five was upon meeting him and was adamant that he stay under U.A.'s protection, but Nedzu has been cagey about his agenda regarding Five. He assigned Aizawa and Yamada to take care of Five, and Yamada immediately connected with Five after Five revealed himself to be both similar to Aizawa's personality and severely traumatized by being one of the first heroes. Yamada tried to get Five to choose a name for himself that is not a number, but was unsuccessful, so has decided to call Five cutesy nicknames in the meantime. Nedzu gave Five a phone, which had been tampered with so that Five couldn't look up information about his family. Five lied about failing to cook (because he could not read their Japanese cookbook), and was scolded for lying about it before Yamada taught him how to cook properly. 
> 
> Aizawa brought Five to school, where he immediately made a splash (and Mineta was transferred out of the class). Ashido suggested the nickname 'Haru' for Five, as a shortening of 'Hargreeves'. Tsuyu reached out to befriend him, which Five reluctantly accepted, and Bakugo decided that Five was probably some sort of League spy. Midoriya seems to know something about Five. People are not supposed to give Five information about the past, but Five is looking for it anyway. Nedzu has hinted to Five about his past as a lab experiment. 
> 
> Five has consistently looked down on Class 1-A, going so far as to call them 'children' while he considered himself an adult (despite being younger than them), but was sent into a panic attack after witnessing their strength. He realized that in a world filled with quirks, he was not special. He was ordinary, and he connected his feelings to how Vanya felt back home. He feels guilty about escaping his father's reach when his siblings haven't, and is determined to go back for them even at his own expense. Yamada talked to him about some of his confused feelings, and told Five to think about what it means to be a hero, and ask Class 1-A what it means.

As it turns out, teachers get to school absurdly early in order to get ready for their classes. Aizawa seemed to have figured his own system out, spending the minimum amount of time to prepare before dozing off, while Yamada had to hurry into a meeting with the rest of the English department. Not to mention the scrambling to organize last-minute changes for the upcoming Sports Festival.

Five stayed with the teachers for a while, but the noise aggravated him while he was working on his first actual assignment, so he relocated to his seat in the 1-A classroom, empty with over half an hour before class was scheduled to start. He had to unlock the room and pull his chair down from on top of the desk where it had been stored, but that wasn't an issue.

Five actually made some decent progress before the first student arrived, all stiff-limbs and sharp movements.

"[Hello, Hargreeves!]" Iida announced with a large smile on his face. "[It is good to see other students know the benefits of arriving bright and early to our fine establishment!]"

"[Yeah; sure,]" Five said tersely, watching Iida methodically take each chair off of their respective desks and put them into place. "[You really do that every morning?]"

"[Of course! While not strictly part of my duties as class president, I'm more than happy to help out my fellow classmates in whatever ways I can!]"

"[If you say so.]" Five tapped his pencil against his desk, his conversation with Yamada from the night before rolling around in his head. "[...What do you think it means to be a hero?]"

Iida's head whipped around, his eyes looking suspiciously glassy at the fact Five actually asked him a question relevant to their school, and Five glared back at him out of habit.

"[A hero is a long-standing and noble profession,]" Iida began, undeterred. "[One where an individual puts their life on the line in order to rescue others who are less fortunate! Heroes save people when disaster strikes, whether man-made or otherwise, and are citizens' first line of defense when something goes wrong! I'm from a long line of heroes myself, and I'm proud to be taking up such an honorable mantle.]"

Five hummed. There was a lot to unpack in that definition. "[So you decided to become a hero because it's a tradition in your family?]"

"[Yes, exactly!]" Iida held his chin up high. "[The hero name 'Ingenium' has been passed down in my family for generations. My brother currently has the mantle, and I'm hoping to be able to serve by his side until I'm ready to take up the title myself!]"

(It was a rather bold assumption that a hero name that's passed down would be transferred from brother to brother peacefully, but even _Five_ had enough tact not to bring that up when Iida seemed so positive about his family.)

"[Won't you need a hero name in the meantime, then?]" Five asked instead.

"[Of course! Though we probably won't need them for quite a while, I've brainstormed several names--]"

The door clashed open, an out-of-breath Bakugo appearing in the doorway, scanning the room and tensing when his eyes landed on Five.

"[How do you keep getting here so early?!]"

"[What part of 'lives with the teachers' don't you understand?]" Five bit back.

"[Bakugo! Please stop harassing young Hargreeves! He is a guest at our school, and should be treated as such!]"

"[Keep deluding yourself, Glasses,]" Bakugo said, marching over to Five's desk. "[Where'd you go during class yesterday?]"

Five wasn't expecting to have been called on his absence quite so soon, but he really should have. "[I was _busy_. I don't have time to sit through all your classes, you know.]"

"[Busy with _what_?]" Bakugo demanded.

"[My own schoolwork,]" Five lied. "[You can ask the teachers. I was in the teacher's lounge the whole time.]"

"[Noisy.]"

The word was quiet and disinterested, but still managed to draw the attention of all three boys as the new arrival yawned and settled down in the seat next to Five.

"[Good morning, Todoroki!]" Iida greeted.

"[Morning,]" Todoroki replied, immediately propping his face in his hand and closing his eyes.

Five remembered that name as one of the ones Yamada mentioned having trained prior to U.A. Iida's training was obvious--his movements were precise and by-the-book, and his physique was one that could only be achieved through careful bodybuilding--but Five hadn't had a face to put to Todoroki's name until now, and yeah, he could see how he could be the son of the so-called "number two" hero. From what little Five saw, he didn't make unnecessary movements, and the sheer speed and power of his ice was overwhelming.

"[So you're Todoroki, huh?]" Five asked, turning away from Bakugo in a way he knew would piss the boy off. "[What do _you_ think it means to be a hero?]"

Todoroki opened his eyes only to glare at Five out of the corner of his eye, scar on full display.

"[Not a morning person?]" Five guessed, sliding on a Klaus-like grin as he propped up his own chin in his hand.

"[I think it's a valuable question!]" Iida declared. "[We all could use some self-reflection to determine where our values lie.]"

Bakugo scoffed, finally making his way three desks ahead to drop off his bag. "[That's dumb. A hero's job is to beat down all the bad guys that stand in their way. _All_ of them.]"

Todoroki's glare shifted from Five to Bakugo, somehow growing even colder. "[Heroics is just another job. No more, no less.]"

Bakugo met one glare with one of his own, and Iida held his chin in his hand and a constipated expression on his face. "[While that feels a little reductive, it's certainly true! Could you elaborate on that, Todoroki?]"

"[Good morning, everyone,]" the girl with the high ponytail greeted as she entered, flashing all of them a smile. "[What are we talking about?]"

"[Good morning, Yaoyorozu,]" Iida called out with a chop of his arm. "[We're having a discussion on what it means to be a hero!]"

"[My, that sounds fascinating!]" Yaoyorozu said cheerfully as she made her way to her seat.

"[Todoroki was just explaining how he sees heroics as a normal job.]"

Todoroki sighed before lowering his hand and straightening his shoulders. "[I didn't say it would be _normal_. Obviously heroics is a highly specialized field, but there's nothing that makes the people in it special. There are good people who are heroes just like there are bad people who are heroes. They'll use the power afforded to them by their jobs as they see fit.]"

Yaoyoruzu blinked. "[That's a surprisingly cynical point of view, Todoroki.]"

Todoroki just shrugged, propping his head back in his hand.

"[If that's how you see it, why do you want to be a hero?]" Five pressed.

Todoroki glanced at him. "[...I have my reasons.]"

Then he closed his eyes, apparently done with the conversation.

"[Of course; your business is your own,]" Iida quickly reassured. "[What about you, Yaoyorozu? What does being a hero mean to you?]"

"[Well, let's see,]" Yaoyorozu started, considering the question with some weight. "[To me, a hero is a public figure. Someone who is hired by the state to keep order and to provide a public good, making sure that vulnerable populations are protected and to promote an image of strength to deter crime before it happens. It's an intensive job that requires both a quick mind and body to keep up with criminals and the media alike. Personally, I became a hero because I felt that with a quirk as versatile as mine, I would be able to do the most good in that sector, where there are so many situations where time is of the essence and supplies may be lacking.]"

"[A nuanced view!]" Iida applauded.

"[What about you?]" Yaoyorozu asked, turning to Five. "[Do you want to be a hero too? Have you decided?]"

Five scoffed and smiled bitterly. "[Do you _really_ want to know?]"

"[Of course,]" Iida said easily. "[We're all eager to get to know you better!]"

Iida's posture was open and wide, the picture of strong but welcoming. Yaoyorozu faced Five, turned around in her chair, with an interested smile and bright eyes. Behind her, Bakugo gave him a considering glare, but was quiet. Todoroki was still attempting to nap.

What the hell. Why not.

"[I don't _want_ to be a hero. I _am_ a hero,]" Five started. "[I'm among the first wave of quirk-users, and my father bought me and my siblings from our birth parents. He's been training us--the Umbrella Academy--to be heroes since we were old enough to walk. He made our lives hell, pitting us against each other and pushing our limits, because we were the only ones with quirks, and we needed to use our powers in ways he approved of. I've fought and defeated several criminals before I came here. I've killed people. To me, being a hero is a path that's always been carved in blood. An unfortunate but necessary path, and one that I'm good at. It didn't even occur to me until I came here that I could be anything different. That there might be a different path to heroics. Which is why I'm interested to see how your system works, filled with people who actually want to be there.]"

As Five finished his piece it was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Iida and Yaoyorozu were looking at him with open-mouthed horror, and Bakugo's glare had finally dropped off his face and was replaced with a concerned curiosity. Todoroki had finally turned his full attention to Five, eyes wide with the most open emotion Five had seen him wear so far.

"[That's horrible!]" Iida declared, breaking the silence first. "[I understand that our current laws must not have existed at the time, but I simply cannot accept this! What kind of man would raise his children to fight crime against their will? How could he get away with such a thing?]"

"[He's _very_ rich and _very_ powerful,]" Five explained, a wry smile curling onto his lips watching Iida's outrage.

"[That is no excuse! The amount of wealth one has should not determine whether or not they're allowed to follow basic human ethics!]"

"[That's right,]" Yaoyorozu agreed. "[My question is where the public is in all this? Surely someone noticed what was going on. You said that you've defeated criminals before.]"

"[I did. They knew. We have a whole line of merchandise, including toys and comic books. We're very marketable.]"

"[They didn't--That's--]" Yaoyorozu floundered, turning red in the face in her fury. "[That's so--]"

"[Fucked up?]" Bakugo suggested.

"[Yes!]" Yaoyorozu agreed, fists clenched. "[It's very fucked up!]"

As amusing as it was to watch them work themselves up into a frenzy, Five found Todoroki's reaction the most interesting. He watched the others with an overwhelmed awe, eyes flitting between each of the others as they each said their piece, but never contributed.

"[Have you informed the teachers of your situation?]" Iida asked, interrupting Five's thoughts. "[I'm sure they would do everything in their power to make sure that you are safe! Perhaps you do not need to return at all?]"

"[I'm _going_ back,]" Five asserted, his gaze and voice turning steely. "[My siblings are still back there, and I will _not_ let them go through all that alone.]"

"[I--Well--Of course!]" Iida scrambled to regain his footing. "[I didn't mean to imply that you would! But--]"

"[We don't want you to have to go back to a dangerous situation,]" Yaoyorozu finished. "[So in the meantime, we'll do whatever we can to help you in your journey. Just let us know what you need.]"

They were all so _earnest_ about wanting to help him. It was strange. And a little funny, considering how little they could actually do.

"[I'm fine. Really. The teachers do know, and the principal knows more than them, for whatever that's worth. They're doing what they can.]"

"[Well, that's good, at least.]" Yaoyorozu's shoulders relaxed a little. "[Do you--]"

The door slid open, and the brown haired girl walked in. "[Oh, wow, everyone's pretty early toda--!]" She blinked, her smile faltering as she looked over everyone's grim expressions. "[Am I interrupting something?]"

"[Not at all,]" Five smiled back. "[We were just having a little debate.]"

"[O-Oh, yes, about the nature of the heroics industry,]" Yaoyorozu added, making a valiant effort to move on at Five's prompting.

"[O...kay?]" The new girl gave them a thumbs up before pointing to a desk. "[I'm gonna go set my bag down now.]"

"[Ah, let me help you, Uraraka!]" Iida declared, heading to the opposite end of the room. "[I wanted to ask you about your text--]"

Students began to arrive en mass after Uraraka, and the subject was quickly dropped. That didn't stop Yaoyorozu from slipping Five her phone number with a promise that he could call her if he needed anything. And it didn't stop Bakugo from keeping an eye on Five out of the corner of his eye.

But the real difference was that Five somehow managed to catch the eye of Todoroki, who began sneaking glances at him for the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up: Next Thursday I'll probably be updating [WUZI](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26890066/chapters/65612974) instead of this fic. If so, AUF will return with a new chapter in two weeks.
> 
> Thanks for understanding!
> 
> Next time:  
>  _Chapter 15: Think on your feet, Todoroki!_


	15. Think on your feet, Todoroki!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five and Todoroki have a much-anticipated conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: There's a brief mention of Luther and Allison's crush on each other this chapter.
> 
> Thank you to Kyirah and 1001paperboxes for betaing this chapter!

"[Can I talk to you?]" Todoroki asked while everyone else was distracted with getting ready to go home. "[Privately.]"

Five would be lying if he said he hadn't expected this. It had taken longer than he'd expected--Todoroki actually waited until the end of the week to make his move--but as soon as he turned to face Five head-on for the first time, Five knew what was going to come out of his mouth.

It was time to find out what all this was about.

"[Sure,]" Five agreed and followed him out, giving Tsuyu a nod when she raised an eyebrow at who Five was leaving with.

The walk was quiet, neither of them offering up any small talk, but it wasn't tense. At least not on Five's end. All the glances that Todoroki had been sending him weren't filled with worry or hatred, just... curiosity, maybe. Relief.

As Todoroki led him out of the building and toward the more wooded area of campus, Five had stray thoughts about whether or not he was being led to a secondary location to be murdered, but he could recognize when he was being overly paranoid. Five trusted his reflexes and his ability to get out of bad situations, and killing anyone on campus would be a dumb move. Nedzu obviously had cameras everywhere.

Plus, he couldn't see any of class 1-A killing anyone.

( _Yet_ , anyway.)

Once Todoroki was satisfied they were alone, he turned towards Five. His impassive expression sharpened, looking over Five before he asked, "[Is what you said two days ago true? Your father bought you and your siblings and used you to create the first superhero team?]"

"[Would I lie about something like that?]" Five countered.

(He _would_ , but Todoroki didn't need to know that. Five _didn't_ lie about it though, and that was the important part.)

"[You made it sound like your training with him was pretty rough,]" Todoroki continued. "[What was it like?]"

"[Are you sure you want to know?]"

"[I do.]"

Todoroki looked like he did, too. His posture was unwavering and unblocked, just looking at Five and assessing.

"[Alright. I'm feeling generous.]" Five shrugged, sliding his hands into his pockets. "[He had every second of our lives regimented; sometimes having two or three lessons happening at once. We had to constantly be learning and evolving, or else we were wasting time. Our only scheduled break was half an hour of free time on Saturdays where we could do whatever we wanted. Everything else was for him. Some lessons were individualized, and others were combined. We had to fight each other or compete every day. We were lucky that none of us had healing powers, because us getting permanently damaged was one of the few things that kept his regimen in check. We ended every day exhausted and hooked up to wires so that he could monitor our brain activity while we slept. Is that enough for you, or would you like me to continue?]"

Todoroki, for his part, took all of that information in stride, which was more than Five was expecting. He nodded, processing, and then asked, "[What was your individual training like?]"

Five took a breath and let it out. So far it had been pretty cathartic to haphazardly dump his trauma at people's feet, but he'd been speaking pretty generally, just enough for people to get the shape of what happened. The idea of divulging what happened specifically to him was more daunting, but Five was the one who had offered, and since he made this bed he would lie in it.

"[He would restrain me or otherwise lock me in increasingly restrictive or disorientating spaces and I would have to find ways to escape on my own. He would make me teleport over and over to increasingly farther places until I physically couldn't anymore. Sometimes I threw up. Sometimes I passed out. But when I left I still wasn't up to his standards. I knew that I was capable of time traveling, but he said that I wasn't ready. He was right about that one, I suppose, but I wouldn't be here if I hadn't run off and tried it on my own.]"

Todoroki's expression still hadn't wavered, though it did grow more grim.

"[Why do you want to know, anyway?]" Five asked. "[It's only fair to return the favor.]"

Todoroki finally averted his eyes, looking away and quietly considering his words. "[It sounded like we had similar backgrounds. I wanted to know _how_ similar.]"

Five clenched his jaw. The news wasn't as surprising as it should be, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it.

"[What do you mean?]"

Todoroki looked at him again. "[Has anyone told you about quirk marriages?]"

And then Todoroki explained. Explained a life far too similar to Five's own, filled with training and abuse and hardship. The methods and the reasons were different, but those were skin-deep differences. In all of the ways that were important, they were the same.

(Quirk marriages in particular horrified Five because he knew that his father had to be aware of Luther and Allison's budding crushes on each other. He always thought that it was strange that Reginald never tried to stomp that out. Was he already considering what might happen to their child in a quirk marriage? It made Five's head spin.)

Five clenched his fists in barely contained rage as Todoroki spoke. He really, really hated how little he was surprised by Todoroki's story.

How _dare_ there be so many people genetically experimenting on their children that it has a name.

How _dare_ there be a future where kids were still going through the same shit as him.

How _dare_ they.

When Todoroki finished exposing his own trauma, Five took a deep breath and asked slowly, "[Would you like me to kill him for you?]"

"[Excuse me?]" Todoroki stared at him, looking taken aback.

"[Do you want me to kill him for you?]" Five repeated.

"[I--]" His eyebrows pinched together, frowning to himself. "[I don't--Well. I'd be lying if I said that I'd never thought about it. But I don't think I want him dead. Just--Out of power. With consequences for his actions.]"

Damn. That was harder to do.

"[He'd be out of power if he was dead,]" Five pointed out.

Todoroki still looked uncomfortable with the idea. "[He's the number two hero for a reason. Even if you wanted to, you probably wouldn't be able to.]"

Oh, Todoroki did _not_ just question Five's abilities.

Five pursed his lips and _jumped_ , appearing in the air directly behind Todoroki and landing on his back, using Todoroki's momentary confusion to wrap an arm around his neck.

"[Stab,]" Five said aloud, miming the motion against Todoroki's neck. "[Stab.]" Five did another, this time over Todoroki's heart.

Todoroki dropped his center of gravity and reached over his head, grabbing the back of Five's blazer and bodily throwing him off, aided by expanding ice pushing off of the right side of his body.

Five teleported in mid air, landing on his feet on the other end of the clearing.

Todoroki held his hand to his neck, looking at Five wildly and on guard. "[What is _wrong_ with you?!]"

"[You're the one who doubted me,]" Five pointed out, holding his empty hands up in the air. "[I'm just saying, _anyone_ can die with a well-placed surprise attack.]"

Todoroki stared at him, still searching for something while he looked over Five.

"[My father isn't me. Have you even _seen_ him fight? You can't discount decades of hero work just like that. That's arrogance talking. And even if you do, what are you expecting to happen after you kill him? To get away with it? Don't make me laugh. I'll get my revenge in my own way. I'm going to become the best pro hero without using his quirk. He'll see that I never needed him, and he'll never see the satisfaction of his quirk becoming the number one hero.]"

It was Five's turn to raise an eyebrow. "[What kind of a plan is that? Wouldn't it be better to just not be a hero at all?]"

Todoroki clenched his jaw, glaring at Five. "[Then, are _you_ going to stop being a hero? Really? I'd like to hear what you see your future looking like.]"

Oh no.

Five didn't like this line of questioning at _all_.

"[That's _different_ ,]" Five insisted.

"[You can't imagine it, can you?]" Todoroki pushed. "[You're just like me. So get off your high horse. I'm going to be a hero and save my mother. I'm going to show everyone that I don't need my old man. I'll prove it in the sports festival. I'll win it _all_ without using my fire. You'll see.]"

Todoroki walked away, deliberately taking a path that wouldn't cross with Five's, but keeping a wary eye on him regardless.

Five didn't stop him.

Regardless of Todoroki's reasons for telling Five about his past, it was obvious that he was in trouble. Five refused to stand by and watch history repeat itself--not when there was something he could do about it.

He had some research to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Time:   
> _Chapter 16: Video Chat with Heropedia ft. "Call Me Tsuyu"_


	16. Video Chat with Heropedia ft. "Call Me Tsuyu"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to 1001paperboxes for betaing this chapter!

"Oh, wow, I really can see you," Five said, staring at Tsuyu's image on his phone.

"That's how video calls work, kero." Tsuyu propped her phone up against something and stepped back. "Did you not have them back in your time?"

"We had video recordings and security cameras, but nothing two-way like this," Five admitted, attempting to prop his own phone up against a book on the desk in his room, but it immediately slid flat. He tried again, placing an eraser in front of the phone this time, and it stuck.

"Glad I could show you how it's done, then." The background of her call was noisy, and she pulled out several items out of her refrigerator and took down a cutting board. "Thanks for letting me cook while we talked. I need to make dinner for everyone."

"That's no easy feat," Five said, recalling his own misadventure in the kitchen.

"I'm used to it." She began to cut the vegetables, though Five could hear it more than he could see it from the angle the camera was at. "So, you wanted to know something about hero society?"

"Yeah, I was trying to figure out what the deal was with the hero rankings," Five admitted, pulling his chair out and tapping his fingers against his thighs. "Like, who decides that stuff? What kind of power do those ranked heroes have compared to other heroes? Who are the current top heroes, and what are they like? I was trying to look things up on my own but..."

"Everything's in Japanese?" Tsuyu guessed.

"Everything's in Japanese," Five confirmed with a sigh.

"I can give you the basics, but I don't know much about that kind of stuff," Tsuyu admitted. "You live with a teacher, right? Why don't you ask them?"

Five grimaced.

Originally, he was legitimately going to use the weekend to see if he could figure out a way to get an upper hand on the so-called "Number Two Hero" Endeavor, but after managing to look up a fight of his on HeroTube and follow the related videos through dozens of other fights, Five had to face the grim reality that Todoroki was right. Even with Five's element of surprise, it'd be extremely unlikely that he'd be able to get a killing blow on Endeavor without risking his own life in the process. Endeavor was too bulky, with reflexes too quick, and a hair-trigger control of his quirk. And with so many cameras and eyes on the man, it would make getting away with it impossible without inside help.

So he'd need to figure out how to get him out of power with consequences for his actions, just like Todoroki had wanted. Which would need a softer, more roundabout method of attack.

Even if it wasn't murder, Five was still pretty sure neither Yamada or Aizawa would condone him trying to take down the second most powerful hero on a whim, so he only wanted to go to them as a last resort.

(Not to mention it was still pretty hard for him to trust adults with anything important regardless.)

"He's off doing his radio show." It wasn't technically a lie. After taking a week off, Yamada had to head to the studio to both check in on how everything was running and do an extra long show to make up for his extended absence for his listeners. Aizawa's injuries were getting better every day thanks to the school nurse's quirk, and between Aizawa and Five, Yamada decided he could trust that the apartment would be intact by the time he got back. "And besides, I don't need to bother him with something like this."

"You're staying with Present Mic then, kero?" Tsuyu asked, moving the camera to a new angle as she pulled out a pan.

"Yes," Five said, still deliberately leaving out Aizawa. "It's okay if you don't have any information for me. Just pointing me in the right direction or giving me terms to look up would be a big help."

"To be honest, Midoriya would be a better fit," Tsuyu admitted. "He's like an encyclopedia when it comes to hero-related information."

"Huh. Interesting."

"I could see if he can hop on the call?"

"I'd appreciate it," Five said. "He's kinda jumpy, isn't he? Even though he's so strong."

"He has anxiety, kero." The camera angle shifted again as she picked up her phone, showing her pixelated face as she stared in concentration at the screen. After she tapped something out a couple of whooshing noises from her phone carried through the speaker. "He says he's available. I'll call him."

The screen split in half, Tsuyu being squished onto the left side, leaving Midoriya to appear on the right.

"[O-Oh! I didn't realize this was a group call,]" Midoriya said, smiling awkwardly and glancing between their faces as he set his phone on his desk. Half of a poster of All Might was visible behind him. "[Hi, Asui. Hi, Hargreeves.]"

"[Call me Tsuyu,]" she insisted.

"[H-Hi, Tsuyu,]" Midoriya repeated, his face turning visibly red even over the grainy video feed. "[So, uh, what's up? And do you mind if I do some reps while we're talking?]"

"[Go ahead. I'll be cooking anyway too,]" Tsuyu said, returning to her task.

"[I want to know more about the hero ranking system,]" Five said, launching into it. "[Who runs it, how do they determine the positions, what are the benefits to being ranked highly--things like that.]"

"[Oh,]" Midoriya looked taken aback as he lifted frankly huge hand weights with no issue. "[I could certainly talk about that stuff but, uh, why...?]"

"[Everyone's all 'number one' this, and 'number two' that; anyone would get curious,]" Five pushed.

"[I don't think it could hurt anything, Midoriya,]" Tsuyu said. "[Besides, he's going to find out sooner or later if he stays here any length of time.]"

"[Right...]" Thankfully, Midoriya seemed mollified by Tsuyu's reasoning. "[Well, the Hero Ranking System is based on a mix of variety of factors, including the hero's popularity, number of resolved incidents, and 'level of social contribution' which is a combination of things like number of people saved, cost of property damage caused by the hero, and things like charity events and other things deemed to be for the public good. The exact formulas that the Hero Public Safety Commission use to determine the rankings isn't public, and neither is all the data they use, but there are several news companies that have branches dedicated to following hero news and compiling data and writing their own formulas so that they can predict who will be where on the board when the yearly Hero Billboard Chart JP comes around. Some fans do the same thing, compiling publicly-available information, and sometimes their results are more accurate than the professionals.]"

"[Fans like you, Midoriya?]" Tsuyu teased.

"[I-It's a group effort,]" Midoriya said, looking away from the camera as he switched hands.

Five nodded along, taking a few notes as Midoriya went. It all sounded par for the course of bureaucracy so far. "[And I'm guessing the higher ranks get more money and influence?]"

"[Basically,]" Midoirya agreed.

"[What's Aizawa's rank?]" Five asked, looking for a point of comparison.

Midoriya gave an awkward laugh. "[Trick question. Mr. Aizawa is actually an underground hero, so he isn't part of the ranking system at all. Most of the rest of U.A.'s staff are ranked heroes, though. Present Mic consistently stays in the top twenties even though he doesn't patrol very often because his radio show is popular and he runs a lot of charity events. Plus when he's called to the battlefield, he's a hard-hitter and gets things done. But he has to make sure to do all that stuff to even out the fact he doesn't patrol as often, because resolved incidents are weighted higher than all the other categories. That's why a less popular hero like Endeavor are still in the number two spot, even though Hawks and Best Jeanist have higher approval ratings.]"

Five's frown deepened. "[So even if his popularity would take a sharp turn, it might not matter so long as he gets the job done?]"

"[Well, it would be a factor, but as long as he continued to capture villains and save people in disasters... yes.]"

Five tapped his pen against his notebook irritatedly. There went yet another avenue for taking him down.

"[Who's in charge of the Hero Whatever Commission?]" he asked instead.

"[I don't know any names offhand, but the main board of the Hero Public Safety Commission is on their website,]" Midoriya said. "[They're not heroes or anything--they're just a government agency that acts as a liaison between heroes and the general public, so they set things like the rules and regulations that heroes have to follow, as well as the amount of government aid goes to hero agencies.]"

"[So they're basically the bosses of all the heroes,]" Five summarized.

"[Indirectly, maybe?]" Midoriya shrugged.

"[Heroes also get money from sponsorships and advertisements,]" Tsuyu added. "[So it's not just the government paying for things, ribbit.]"

This was all pretty complicated, but Five was starting to see the shape of it. "[So, if a hero's popularity went down, it might not affect their ratings, but it will affect their wallet through losing sponsorship deals.]"

"[If they're lower ranked, yeah,]" Midoriya agreed. "[The top ten less so, but they'd probably still feel the loss, especially through lower ranked heroes that work at their agency.]"

Five grunted exasperatedly. Was this guy _untouchable_?

Time for a new tactic.

"[What about Nedzu? Is he on those hero rankings?]"

"[That's actually pretty interesting!]" Midoriya said, lighting up and forgetting about his weights for a moment. "[He absolutely is a registered hero, but he's in a nebulous spot between overt and underground heroics. He was rescued from a lab who had been running experiments on him, and with his High-Spec quirk he challenged everyone's preconceptions of what it means to be counted as a person and went on to revolutionize the definition of personhood and who deserves rights in Japan and has sparked similar conversations around the world! After everything he went through, it would have been understandable if he went on to hate humans, but he decided that helping humans would be better for the planet in the long run. He disappeared for a few years and people speculate he'd been working on some highly classified cases, and then he reappeared out of nowhere as the new principal of U.A.! He's said that he believes in helping shape the future of Japan through the up-and-coming heroes, and wants to make sure that those in power are in place for all the right reasons and will not abuse their position.]"

"[How reassuring,]" Five said dryly, thinking of all the better-future talk his own father liked to spew. Though, that did confirm things that Five already knew about Nedzu and made him wonder... "[So, how much influence does Nedzu actually have?]"

"[That depends on what you mean by influence,]" Midoriya said. "[I mean, he has a _lot_ of influence among U.A. students and alumni! He certainly has his political enemies, but he knows how to negotiate and get what he wants. It's half the reason that Nedzu has all the funds and permissions that it does. He's very persistent and persuasive.]"

"[So his students like him?]" Five pushed. "[You believe that he would stand up for his students if their safety was on the line? Even if it was just one student?]"

"[I'd say he's already doing that, ribbit,]" Tsuyu said, ducking back into frame. "[I mean, he's had to respond to the USJ incident, after all. With all the new security measures.]"

"[Though his decision to keep the sports festival on is a controversial one,]" Midoriya argued. "[Personally, it's a dream to be able to participate in one of U.A.'s sports festivals, and I'm glad for the opportunity to be able to show my stuff to prospective agencies for an internship. Still, I know my mom wasn't happy with the decision, and you saw how split everyone was when Mr. Aizawa was announcing Nedzu's decision.]"

"[Yeah, that was surprising,]" Tsuyu admitted. "[Personally I think we should have at least postponed it. But I can see where he was coming from in terms of giving a show of strength.]"

"[So then...]" Five tapped his pencil against his chin as he tried to pull both arguments together. "[You'd say that Nedzu would fight for his students, but only to the point where he'd see it as being advantageous?]"

Midoriya grimaced. "[I don't know if I'd put it like that... it's more like... He knows that people are watching what U.A. is doing. He's not afraid to rock the boat, but he also knows that he has to play the long game if he's going to make all the changes that he wants to.]"

Which... made sense, Five supposed. Nedzu as an ally was just a hunch based on what little information of Nedzu's past Five had managed to gather from Yamada and Nedzu himself.

If Five brought Todoroki's case to Nedzu, would he side with Todoroki? Or would he let Endeavor keep the status quo in order to further a larger agenda?

Was there a way to rig this so that Nedzu would be forced to take Todoroki's side?

"[Thank you,]" Five said, nodding to Midoriya. "[You've been very helpful. How do you know all this?]"

"[Ah, I'm a bit of a hero nerd,]" Midoriya admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "[I look up stuff like this for fun.]"

Five hummed. "[Interesting. Have you ever heard of the Umbrella Academy?]"

Panic entered Midoriya's eyes. "[O-Oh, what? N-No, definitely not, I--ah, I hear my mom calling for me; got to go!]"

His side of the screen went black, and Tsuyu's picture took up the missing space again.

Five raised an eyebrow. "[That sounded like he knew something to me.]"

"[Maybe. But you shouldn't be asking about your family anyway,]" Tsuyu pointed out.

"[What would you do, then?]" Five asked, propping his head on his hand. "[If you were stranded in the future, without your friends or siblings or parents?]"

Tsuyu's hands stilled for a moment, staring somewhere far above the camera's low angle. "[I don't know,]" she admitted quietly. "[That sounds pretty scary. If I was in the future as far as you are... It'd be tempting to look up what happened to my family. Maybe I had some relatives that I could find and rely on. But, more than that... I think I'd be afraid of learning something that I can't unknow when I go back. Like when they die or if they grew to hate me. I think... maybe if I stayed there a long time, I'd eventually look. But if I was still planning to go back? I'd try to wait as long as possible.]"

Five hummed. "[Even if it meant you could change it when you got back?]"

"[Could I?]" Tsuyu looked down at Five. "[Do you know that?]"

"[I'd say we _have_ to believe that,]" Five said, gripping his pencil tightly. "[Otherwise... what's the point?]"

Tsuyu hummed, turning off her stove. "[...To have a good meal?]"

The answer caught Five off guard, and he barked out a laugh. "[Oh yeah?]"

Tsuyu nodded. "[Having a warm meal with people you care about... that's one of the things that I want to protect, ribbit.]"

"[A warm meal, huh?]"

Five leaned back in his chair, thinking back to the stiff dinners filled with German survivalists playing though the air, with his siblings all covertly doing something else while they ate. Then he thought of the rice and stew that he made with Yamada, and how comfortable he and Aizawa were despite the man's injuries. It felt... satisfying, in a way that meals usually weren't.

"[I guess I could get behind that.]"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! It's been a long four months, huh? For me, I actually started writing this fic in early April and had to put the story on hold for a few months building up to and recovering from a surgery, so for me, this fic has neatly bookended a very important and chaotic time of my life, and continued to keep me sane during quarantine. Every week, I'm absolutely blown away by everyone's enthusiasm and support for this story, and it propels me forward through each new chapter!
> 
> That said, **AUF is going on hiatus, and will return in January** so that I can build my buffer back up and ensure that the fic continues to stay high-quality as we move forward. 
> 
> I hope that everyone has wonderful winter holidays, and looks forward to the next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> I have a [Tumblr](https://unprofessionalamber.tumblr.com/).


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